Ionian Origins: Black Blades of the Blood Moon
by Caccus
Summary: A Wuxia story. Young Akali is an underachiever in the Kinkou, but her world where her biggest problems are pleasing her mother and pursuing Shen is shattered when the evil Blood Moon Sect attempts to steal a forbidden martial arts scroll. The young ninja is then plunged into the martial arts underworld, where ties of violence, love, and betrayal play fickle with the fate of Ionia.
1. Blood

Art credit to the amazing ChaoXuanYu

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><p>Pale white hands clutch pitch black blades,<p>

苍白手抓漆黑刀,

A pitch black night clutches a pale white moon,

漆黑晚抓苍白月,

Two red robed assassins journey,

两个红衣刺客游,

Cradling hungry dragons within coffins.

轻轻抚摸饿龙在棺材里.

* * *

><p>Though the moon hung full and low over the sky, the nighttime mountain roads were a sea of pitch-black rocks and inky crevasses. Under the cover of darkness, the Blood Moon assassins carefully made their way to their slumbering prey. A cold, sharp wind rose from the frosted rocky grounds of hallowed Ionian ground, rising to cut at the cheeks of the scarlet-clad night warriors. The Hirana Monastery lay before them, still in the moonlight; only the rare torch mounted over the top of the wall could be seen, standing vigil over the dark sea of fog and wind that surrounded the fortified temple.<p>

At the sight of their prey towering before them, Shueto turned to Shuezi. From under the cover of the man's wide brim bamboo hat, his sister could see a smirk forming at his bloodless lips. She smiled in return. It was a time of celebration for the two siblings, because tonight, they were going to have fun.

They started down the treacherous mountain trail...

...with the coffins that were chained to their hips clanking and clattering unceremoniously in the night.

* * *

><p>He was a fat, slow man, Brother Tam knew. But these were quiet, peaceful times, he always told himself, therefore the gods must be getting just as lazy he was. Fat, lazy monks suited peaceful, dozing gods well. And Brother Tam was indeed fat. The brown-robed man's kasaya, his monk's uniform, was thin from years of stretching and bulging at the middle. The folds parted to reveal a large pale belly that would have been cold if not for the copious amounts of insulation the rolls of fat provided and the warm fire that Brother Tam had dutifully lit for himself.<p>

He had been dozing off at his guard post at the Hirana Monastery's gatehouse, his belly full of delicious vegetable stew and his head full of pleasant dreams. His role in the temple as a guard was not the most difficult job, to be sure. Not in the Monastery's quiet years devoted to those lazy gods. In fact, Ionia, on the whole, had been a rather peaceful island in the last few years.

Even if the rare gang of bandits would arrive at their doorstep, invariably demanding money, weapons, or food, they would be greeted by the inexhaustible charity of the Hirana Monastery's Abbot, Grandmaster Bao, and more often than not, convinced to lay aside their weapons to pursue a life of peace. Even those who could not be swayed by words would find Hirana Monastary a hard-won prize, for the Hirana Monastery upheld a long and honored tradition of drawing martial strength from inner peace. Peaceful strength powerful enough to quell even the fiercest fires; it would be here that a blind monk would lead a warrior of the North, and here that the Northern warrior would find the calm within the flames.

KAM! KAM! KAM!

A sharp banging upon the gate's door startled Brother Tam awake. The plump man fell out of his wooden chair in a heap, mumbling in confusion. The banging raced through the empty gatehouse again, cutting through Brother Tam's disoriented fog.

A visitor? Who could possibly be bothering the Monastery at this hour? For a brief moment, he swore he could hear the jingle of metal links, but the silence that followed smothered his suspicions as quickly as they came. Did he just dream it?

Brother Tam gathered himself, huffing and puffing and shuffling over to the thick oak doors that led to the Monastery's connecting bridge. He reached up and groped for the cold iron handle of the door viewer. Upon finding it he roughly slid it open. Bracing himself against the rush of cold wind from the outside elements, Brother Tam thrust his face against the slot in the gate door, searching for the bothersome visitor.

Nothing. He saw nothing.

Confused, Brother Tam looked back and forth along the open space in front of the door. With what little view he squinted as far as he could see within the darkness. Wasn't there supposed to be a lit torch outside?

"Hmph..." He grumbled, reaching down to unbar the gate. Perhaps the wind had blown it out. He hefted the iron bar up, and slid it out, releasing the gateway door from its grasp. Grunting, Brother Tam shoved at the heavy doors. The entrance doors groaned and complained, until finally the heavy oak gave way to a stiff gust of wind that cut past the monk's blubber and chilled him to the bone, and the monk found himself standing outside of Hirana Monastery's gates.

Shivering, the round man clutched at his thin monk's robes, looking about for the source of the noise.

"Hello?" He called out, his voice snatched away by the sharp, biting wind. "Is anyone there?"

Still, no reply.

But... now he did indeed see ...something. Two somethings, to be precise. They stood in the clearing, dark and still, unnatural and out of place. Frowning, Brother Tam shuffled closer to the shapes in the darkness. "Hello?" he whispered, as if he was afraid to wake them.

They didn't respond. Now Brother Tam could see that the shapes weren't people, but vaguely rectangular, wooden boxes that stood taller than he did. He reached up, and felt along the smooth edge of the wood and felt another chill, though this time it wasn't from the cold. An evil chi was emanating from this thing.

He felt along the edge until he felt a gap, and within that gap, intruded upon some cold liquid inside. Brother Tam, disgusted, quickly withdrew his hand from whatever foul substance filled the inside of the thing. Whatever it was, it felt cold and sticky in the dry wind, hardening over his hand like a second skin.

Confused, Brother Tam carefully brought his hand to sniff...

... and then in that moment...

Shuezi silently fell to the ground behind him. With a single hand, the lithe woman pushed Brother Tam into the coffin, his scream still caught in his throat, before the luckless man could ever realize that the substance coating his hand was blood.

* * *

><p>The temple doors burst open, warrior monks die, and fresh blood drenches the sibling assassins' hands.<p>

殿门开,武僧死,鲜血淋刺客手

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><p>By now, all of Temple of Hirana have echoed the sound of screams and violence. What few survivors are left have rallied at their abbot's chambers. The men who have gathered around the abbot, are healthy and uninjured, for the assassins have indiscriminately dealt death to anyone they cut. The monks' famous calm and serenity has vanished into a fit of trembling hands, stammering prayers and wide, panicked eyes. The ancient Grandmaster Bao sat in the middle of them all, quivering at his humble throne. The man gripped his martial long-staff, but there was a futile edge to his hold. Though the elder was once an avid and respected warrior within the Wulin, the martial-arts underworld, age has made a decrepit ruin of his body and spirit. He hasn't so much as sneezed on, let alone fought another warrior in over twenty years.<p>

And now, he faced the annihilation of his monastery at the hands of demons cloaked in red.

The cries outside dwindled to a halt, and for a moment, all the defenders could hear was the voice of their terror of death. It was the sound of their heart, beating a tattoo into the insides of their chests. The silence lasted for only an instant. Then the doors to the abbot's chambers rocked from a violent blow, and all of the monks stepped back, cowed like herd animals. Their cries of fear was like the mewling of lambs. The framing of the portal is already showing signs of stress. Cracks show in the painted wood and metal bolts pop out of their molding. No mere doors have stopped these sibling assassins before. Not even doors as grand as these.

Another massive blow, and the wooden bar to the door shatters, knocking back the men who were bracing it with their weight. A voice cried out with the pain of a decimated shoulder, another cry from the agony of a hand smashed into a twisted and mangled ruin.

A final blow, and the doors to the Abbot chambers fly off of their hinges, crushing the most fortunate of the monks beneath their combined weight, killing them instantly. From behind the wreckage, the Blood Moon Sect's assassin Shueto lowers his coffin, after using it to batter down the doors, and chains it squarely back at his hips. His smirk is still sitting smugly over his smile, although the arrogance is now streaked with blood. Not his blood.

"Knock, knock." Shueto sang, striding into the abbot's chambers confidently, with casual ease. Shuezi followed her brother closely, a cheerful red shadow at his side.

His exquisite scarlet robes by all rights should have been hardened and blackened from being soaked in blood, yet as they flapped about, dripping with life-force, they shone fresh and as new as they day that they were woven. In his hands he clutched a cheap blade, taken from a worthless street vendor in the next village out. The shit steel had chipped not even halfway through its first kill, breaking off a tiny piece at the tip while lodged in that same street vendor's brain.

Shuezi held higher reservations for weapons; instead her hands were coated in bright red blood from the kills she made bare-handed. Her clothes just as radiantly red as her brother's from the excess amounts of blood and gore over her dress.

All the while, the coffins that were chained to their bodies were swaying to and fro, almost as if they had come to life. The 'Hungry Dragons' within their coffins could smell the scent of blood in the air, but tonight, they were to make peace within their sheaths, for if their 'Dragons' were to be let out, everything in their path would have been consumed. And tonight the Blood Moon Sect needed a man alive.

Frozen, the remaining Hirana monks could only watch in horror as the Blood Moon assassins butchered their injured brothers in front of their eyes. Yet even this horrid sight had a cruel beauty to it. Their movements were practiced, honed, and refined for maximum efficiency in creating bloody death. Shueto's cruel blade butchered men like animals, and Shuezi's seemingly dainty hands cleaved through flesh, bone and metal alike. Elegance in evil- such were the techniques of the Blood Moon Sect's martial arts style.

At the sight of Shuezi silently laughing, while tearing out the spine of one of their brethren, three of the monks charged one-by-one in crazed, fear-drunk desperation, swinging their wooden staffs ridiculously. One monk strayed just one step too close to Shueto and was instantly eviscerated by a flick of the man's wrist and a thrust of his blade, despite the man's preoccupation with one of the monks trapped underneath one of the fallen doors. After a few strained, wheezing gasps for breath, the monk died with a three-foot long blade buried two feet deep in his gut. The remaining two were torn apart by Shuezi's flying claws of hands. By the time Shuezi was finished with them, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't have figured out whose body parts and organs were whose between the two.

Basking in a gentle rain of blood, Shuezi closed her eyes and let the red mist in the air nuzzle every inch of her. She smiled, satisfied.

"Last one, Shuezi." Shueto stood, having given up on retrieving his cheap blade from the monk he had killed. He didn't feel like tearing open the man like a package just to get at the shit-steel blade. His hands were too slippery from the gore anyways. Shuezi, done with her pleasures, nodded.

Only the abbot was left.

Shueto took the lead, walking up to the withered old man, covered from head to toe in scarlet bloody murder. The abbot seemed shrink, aging a century at the horrible sight.

"Hello, Abbot." Shueto took off his rounded bamboo hat in faux respect, set his coffin squarely out in front on them and sat himself by the abbot's side, putting his arm around the grandfather's shoulders. All the while, Grandmaster Bao, once an accomplished martial artist himself, quivered like a frightened animal. "Are you doing alright? Nervous? We just need to ask you a few questions."

Grandmaster Bao could only whisper in reply.

"W-why...? W-who..?"

"Why?" Shueto frowned. "Oh, you mean why we are here. And who we are? Straight to business, then." Shueto looked up to his sister, and shrugged, while Shuezi mimicked him. "We are of the Blood Moon Sect. Our Master wants a martial arts script, something called like a 'Saintly Sword Manual'-"

Shueto was cut short by Shuezi's hand motions and frantic head shaking.

"Oh." Shueto corrected himself. He squinted, trying to make sense of his sister's sign language. "the... 'Warrior'... 'Saint Codex'" He cocked his head at the Grandmaster underneath his arm. The abbot though, refused to meet the man's gaze. "Heard of it, Grandpa Bao? ...ahhh, who am I kidding?" Shueto laughed, clearly enjoying teasing the frail old man under his arm. Shueto knew that it was just like torture. "We know you know where it is."

"W-why...?"

Shueto sighed, exasperated. His smile shrunk by a few teeth and he rolled his eyes, clearly bored by his captive's response.

"Are you old AND stupid? Shuezi and I are from the Blood Moon Sect, and we are looking for the-"

"All this killing... all this death. For the Warrior Saint Codex? And yet you made no demands... only killing... W-why?"

"-Ahhhhh... Why did we just start killing everyone, instead of making demands first?" Shueto nodded at this, his face brightening up at finally understanding the old man. "Well, you see, Shuezi and I, we figure killing everyone you love and hold dear makes a point about how serious we are. Something like that."

"Y-you... slaughtered my Children of Hirana... basked in their blood... to p-prove a point?!""

"Well..." Shueto smiled warmly. "I'd be lying if I said we didn't enjoy it too."

For a moment, the old man's lips quivered. Grief, disgust, and primal fear of death gripped at the man's core, but what he said was not what the duo expected.

"M-monsters! Devils! You'll never get what you want from me!" Grandmaster Bao's chest was now heaving in fury, and even underneath all of that age, Shueto could see in the fire deep within the depths of the old man's eyes. He could see the great warrior who Grandmaster Bao once was. "I will die before I give you anything you want! ON MY HONOR AS GRANDMASTER OF HIRANA! NEVER!"

The sounds of the Grandmaster's fury echoed deep into Hirana Monastery's empty halls. The two assassins seemed to be shocked into silence.

At this, Shueto turned to look at Shuezi, who smiled. The brother turned to look back at the Abbot and his face took on a darker, eviler visage. A cold smile- his real smile- crept across Shueto's mouth.

"I was hoping you would say that,"

And Shueto reached out and broke one of the abbot's fingers clean off, to the sound of the elderly man's screams. He closed his eyes and rolled the warm finger in his hand, savoring the feeling of human flesh between his fingertips, even as Elder Bao sobbed and cursed.

His eyes still shut, his face still plastered with his chilling smile, Shueto leaned forwards and whispered; his words cut softly under the Abbot's bloody screams.

"Let us find out which lasts longer, Abbot. Your body, or your honor?"

* * *

><p>It was happening again today. Zed and Shen were going to spar. So, by Master Khen's bidding, all junior ninjas were to cease their sparring matches to watch and observe the Kinkou Order's top two junior ninjas duke it out. That meant, of course, that everyone was to drop what they were doing and circle around the fight. Or in Akali's case, get up from being dropped. She was currently buried under just about two-hundred and fifty pounds worth of one of her peers. Akali tried just about everything to get out of the leg-lock that the massive, hulking girl had her in, but the bitch was just too damn heavy.<p>

At the sound of Master Khen's command to cease sparring, Akali reached out to pat the ground in surrender. Damn it. Another loss on her record.

The She-Ogre finally let her go, but not before giving Akali a grin flavored like rancid butter. Akali staggered up, and made her customary bow, as was expected after every match. But the huge girl she had been sparring with was too taken with herself about her "triumph" over the daughter of the prestigious "Pruner of the Tree" to bother. The She-Orge ignored basic courtesy and lumbered off to join with her bitch friends to watch Shen spar with Zed, shit-talking Akali with her stupid ugly mouth the entire way.

Akali fell to her knees. Once there, she pounded the dojo floor again and again in frustration. Damn it. God damn it all.

A thin, lithe hand appeared, floating in front of her. Beckoning. Akali smiled, reached up and took it gratefully.

"Thanks, Kona." The skinny, bookish girl helped Akali up. Despite Kona's thin stature and Akali's bruised everywhere, the two managed to get Akali to her feet. "Ow, ow ow ow." Akali complained, wincing.

Her one and only friend, Kona, was a social outcast like her. Whereas Akali was ostracized for not living up to her namesake of being progeny of a Kinkou Trimulvirate, Kona was simply different. With dark, shoulder-length hair, bright eyes, a sharp tongue and a sharper mind, Kona had made enemies among her peers pretty much as soon as she could speak. Yet with Akali... somehow, they clicked. Kindred spirits, it seemed like.

"The She-Ogre get you again?" Kona asked, tilting her head. Her hair partially covered her eyes. She always did like letting her bangs grow long in front of her face.

"Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum," Akali muttered in reply. "Alive or dead, grind your bones to make my bread."

Her friend laughed, and then beckoned to the circle of students who were milling around the center of the dojo. Zed and Shen's fight was already underway.

"Well, maybe this will cheer you up- Your 'Prince' is riding out to slay his own ogre."

Akali rubbed her neck while she and Kona joined the crowd of students. Absent were the cheers and jeers of ordinary spectators. Instead, the circle of student ninjas stood silently observing the on-going fight between the two best in their class; for these students were Kinkou Xiao'nin, the junior ninjas and youth of the next generation. Each Xiao'nin was watching the movements of Shen and Zed carefully. Watching, learning, and stealing if they could. Each student hoped to learn the secrets of how these two prodigies, though both their peers in age, managed to be so far and away stronger than any others in their class.

"Fah!"

"Raagh!"

Zed, the larger of the two, lunged forwards, locking hands with Shen, intending to erase any clever trick that Shen might have planned by simply overpowering the younger boy with his weight and strength. Shen very nearly buckled under the assault, but at the last moment, managed to lock his limbs in such a fashion that Zed may has well have been pushing down on a wooden post in the ground. For just a moment, there was a stalemate between the two; Zed bearing down over Shen, his killing intent almost palpable, and Shen remaining resolute underneath Zed's crushing weight.

Like always, it was Zed who lost his patience first. The huge boy roared, turned and threw the Shen to the side, but Shen was light on his feet and the toss did little. Still, Zed advanced, his fists flying.

Blow after blow came raining down on Shen from Zed, but for every strike, Shen replied with an expert block. Akali could scarcely believe that this was a fight between two nominally low-level ninja, let alone two teenagers. Still, despite Shen's resolute defense, Zed was slowly wearing him down with his freakish strength. Every strike Zed made on the his younger opponent, whether it was blocked or not, did damage to the underlying muscle and bones.

Akali watched the spectacle with worry. It was looking less and less like a sparring match, and more like a slaughter. She silently cheered him on.

Come on, Shen! Kick his ass!

As if by command, her plea was answered, for Shen found his opening. His movements were almost too quick to follow. A grab, a twist, and a throw, and suddenly, as if by magic, Zed was sent soaring through the air. The hulking boy flew, then slammed high into one of the dojo's pillars, and for a moment, Akali had the insane thought that the wooden support might break. However, though it shuddered from the blow, the beam held and Zed fell bodily onto the ground.

Shen, sensing his advantage, charged his prone opponent.

Zed wasn't finished, however. The huge boy, pushed to the brink of defeat, found desperate creativity to be his salvation. He slammed the bamboo tiled floor; a lone tatami mat burst open, and Zed grabbed the edge of it. With a single hand, Zed threw the floor tile at the advancing Shen, edge first, like a massive wooden blade. Only Shen's quick reflexes and extensive training saved his face from being smashed in. He just barely managed to catch the flying wooden mat over his crossed arms, the tatami breaking over his body. Shen went flying backwards, the scattered pieces of the tatami mat tumbling around him.

"Gah!"

Shen rolled, tried to get up, but collapsed to the ground, his injuries too great. Across from him, Zed alike, struggled to get to his feet. His legs failed him too, and he fell to a knee.

"Damn it!" Zed growled, slamming the floor, but it was all he could do.

"That's it!" Master Khen stepped forwards, raising his hand, separating the two Xiao'nin. So it was another draw between the two. "Well done, both of you. Now stand and bow."

Both Shen and Zed were helped to their feet by their fellow peers. Shen bowed as soon as he got up, as well as he could after such a vicious fight, but Zed simply shrugged off his classmates, and slouched off, sulking.

"Seto!" Master Khen barked, "Where is your respect? Bow!" But Zed ignored him, and he quickly ducked into one of the dojo's surrounding corridors, vanishing. He must be especially pissed this time, Akali realized.

Master Khen sighed, shaking his head. He turned to the rest of his students, exasperated.

"I hope you all learned something from this today." Master Khen's careful eyes scanned his crowd of students. Akali thought that the Master's eyes might have lingered for a moment longer upon her, but as soon as she saw it, it was gone. "You're all dismissed." At his words, the class of Xiao'nin stood, bowed, and dispersed. Akali, however, stayed where she was, thinking. She knew that look. The one that Master Khen had given her. She had seen it thrown her way all her life. It was the look of bitter disappointment in the face of lost potential. For she was the offspring of one of their sacred Kinkou Triuvulrate, just like Shen, but unlike Shen, she had no such prodigious talent; nothing at all to indicate that she inherited any more than a pittance of her Mother's skill.

Their elite caste ninjas, the Dai'nin, were already grooming Shen for the position of their next headmaster. Everyone could see it. Even their current headmaster and the Eye of the Twilight, Master Khen, famous for his impartiality, considered his son Shen to be the heart of the Kinkou Order's entire future.

And Zed, though the Kinkou Elders held serious reservations about the young boy's temperament, was already considered to be a shoe-in for the currently vacant position of the next generation of Heart of the Tempest. The prodigious boy would have plenty of time to cultivate his heart over his power and skill, they reasoned.

To the Kinkou Elders, the student known as Akali was merely OK, at best 'above average' in the wake of prodigies like Zed and Shen. To their discerning eyes, she would be lucky to have half so much skill as her mother, the current Pruner of the Sacred Tree.

Thus, the disappointment. The hate. The jealous, contemptuous eyes of her peers that followed her, cursing her lineage and of how she wasted it. The yearning eyes from Akali's elders that followed her, wishing for, yet never receiving, the daughter of the Pruner of the Sacred Tree that they deserved.

A calm, familiar voice cut through Akali's train of thought.

"Excuse me."

Akali looked up, and jumped a bit at the sight of Shen bearing down on her. Damn if Shen wasn't quiet. Akali didn't even notice him creep up on her. The boy waited quietly, staring blankly at her. Her heart skipped a beat.

And then she realized.

Oh... she was blocking his way.

"S-sorry..." Akali stepped out of the stoic boy's way, and he nodded in thanks. Kona did not miss that Akali was slowly sliding behind her; as if to hide from Shen. The two of them had talked about this before, and she'd be damned if she'd left Akali pass up yet another chance to connect with her 'Prince'.

She smiled, and then ribbed Akali as hard as she could in her side.

"Thatwasafantasticmatch!" Akali blurted at Shen's back. At the sound of Akali's outburst, Shen stopped. He turned slightly towards Akali, his face still stony.

"...Not really." Shen seemed disappointed. "I should have seen Seto-Zed's attack coming." And then, the boy gave the slightest bit of shrugs, before moving on. "But Zed fought well."

"Ah... right-"

"Please excuse me. I have duties to get to."

And then Shen turned without another word and disappearing into a side corridor. Akali exhaled, feeling the mixed emotions swirl about her breast. Excitement, frustration but mostly disappointment. Well, at least she tried.

"Hey..." Kona patted Akali's shoulder supportively. "Look on the bright side... he used complete sentences this time!"

"Tsh, yeah, thanks, Kona."

Kona glanced at the path that Shen had taken, and then smiled. She beckoned Akali closer to her; confused, Akali obliged. Kona brought her hands up to Akali's ear, cupping them tightly around the side of her friend's head; it was a necessary precaution against the eavesdropping that was endemic among their class of ninjas, for all Kinkou Xiao'nin trained to enhance their hearing to extra-human levels, and like all teenagers, loved to eavesdrop, gossip, and shit-talk.

Slowly, softly, she whispered into Akali's ear.

"You know... the Lunar Revel is coming up..."

It was true. Every year upon the Second Moon, the Kinkou were to make a religious pilgrimage to the nearby village of Ing'Xao to pay their respects and prayers at the Warrior Saint's temple. It was one of the few periods of rest for the Kinkou, especially their young junior ninjas. And as always, there was going to be a festival in the village below.

"...And Shen's all alone right now..."

Kona's voice dropped lower, and grew slower; even as Akali's face grew red and redder. The next words Kona spoke turned Akali red as the setting sun. The poor girl buried her face in Kona's shoulder in embarrassment.

"I can't! Not now!" Akali hissed in reply, "I don't know what he'll say!"

Kona smiled, letting her teeth show.

"...Don't you want to find out?"

* * *

><p>She finally managed to catch him on a high, open-air bridge, overlooking their instructing school's practicing square. The Kinxui Hidden Fortress, home to all Kinkou, was a labyrinth of wooden passageways and staircases and secret passageways that served to bamboozle invaders and give the Kinkou an edge in fighting on their home turf. But here, the bamboo and screened maze served Akali's purpose of finally cornering Shen in a spot where she could ask the question that she'd been mulling over with Kona for weeks. She didn't want to run the risk of the entire goddamned monastery listening in on them should things go South. It was a real concern. Damn ninjas and their super-hearing.<p>

It was just a simple question. But still- why was she so damn nervous?

"Shen?" The expressionless young man turned at the sound of his name, and Akali's breath caught in her chest. "Can I ask you something?"

His eyes barely changed at the sight, and Akali couldn't imagine he was looking at anything good. Probably a thin, teenaged girl, bruised from coming out on the losing end of a sparring match? And somehow, despite the boy's stiff walking pace, he had managed to give Akali the slip multiple times as she tried to track him through the Kinxui Fortress, so her ponytail was messed and disheveled from her struggle to keep up with Shen. Oh, and she didn't brush her teeth today. But that was her fault.

Inside her head was a raging storm; her mouth felt like it was full of cotton.

Ridiculous, that she should feel more pressure now than she had ever had—and she had the Pruner of the Sacred Tree, one of three most powerful ninja in the entire Kinkou Order as a mother. With that kind of parentage, the weight on her shoulders should be like the pressure from the deep sea compared to what she was trying to do right now.

Still, she fumbled with her words like an idiot.

"The… the Lunar Revel is coming soon. You know only once a year we get to leave the Kinkou Monastery to offer our prayers at the Warrior Saint's Gate…" What the fu— what was wrong with her? She had somehow managed to awkwardly blurt out a few words, but it felt like her tongue had been swapped for a knotted rope.

Shen didn't respond. Akali hadn't gotten to her question yet, so he didn't have to, and so he didn't. The stoic boy never was one to spare words.

"So after we do, would you like to go with me… to see the festival at the Ing'Xao Village?"

There. Finally. It was out.

Shen gave a longer pause this time. He blinked once, and then sighed, before closing his eyes. It was a painfully long silence. It was only until Akali finally turned her head away from embarrassment that Shen finally responded. She could hear the calm in his voice, the passivity, almost as if he was trying to be kind. But it counted for nothing. His words, as they came out, stung worse than any insult.

"Sorry. The Lunar Revel may be a rest for you and the rest of the Xiao'nin, but my training resumes as soon as I finish my duties at the Warrior Saint's Gate. I will be training throughout our trip. I don't really have the time."

"Oh… right…" She didn't know what else she was expecting. Of course Shen would be training, even on their Lunar Revel pilgrimage. His was their golden boy. Their heir.

"Of course." Akali finally finished. "I'm sorry for bothering you." She felt her face flush, from disappointment, or embarrassment anymore she didn't know. Hell, she didn't care. "I should have known that-"

"It's fine." Shen cut in- not rudely, but curtly. "Well, if that's all then- Please excuse me. I have duties to attend to."

And he left, leaving Akali standing alone there, feeling stupid.

Shit.

Well, what else did she expect from a boy whose emotions ranged from "barely any at all" to "potato"? What else did she expect from the heir to their Kinkou Order as son of their Headmaster, and heir to the seat of the Eye of Twilight as son of the same? She only succeeded in getting her hopes high enough to be crushed.

She sighed.

At least Shen could keep his mouth shut, if nothing else. Since no one would ever know about this, Akali could at least go crawl off alone to 'cry' about it later, or more likely beat the ever-loving shit out of some training dummy—

She turned, realized where she was and then froze in blank horror.

Ohhh no. Oh no, nonononono.

She had turned only to sight upon an entire class of full of Xiao'nin had been training in the courtyard below. Every one of the students was another one of her peers, and she blankly recognized a few of them when she was walking over to confront Shen, but she wasn't conscious of them training below until now. But they weren't training any longer- now they were simply staring. A good thirty pairs of inquisitive teenage ninja eyes stared straight back up at her, to Akali's horror. Even worse, normal people wouldn't have been able to eavesdrop from so far, but these were ninjas in training, who specifically trained to enhance their hearing to extra-human levels. They had almost certainly heard- every—single—fucking-word- she said.

Akali gathered herself, held her head high up, and turned and walked away with as much dignity has she could muster up. There wasn't much left. Even now, as she tried to disappear into the Kinkou Castle as quickly as she could, she could hear the faint tones of soft laughter and wicked gossiping that blossomed in the courtyard.

"Fucking shit," Akali muttered, wholly dreading with a pit in her stomach her next group instructional session.

* * *

><p>A heartfelt thanks to Lalakhmet for her invaluable work with me on polishing and refining this work into the state it so now, and to Mach56 for saving this story from the jumbled incomprehensible mess that it once was. You guys were great, and this story wouldn't be what it was wihtout you.<p> 


	2. Honor

The whispers...

The smirks and the jabs...

The soft voices at the very edge of her periphery...

She... she couldn't take it any longer...

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" Akali started screaming, clutching her head, until Kona flicked her right between the eyes, shutting her up. "Ow."

"Shh... you're messing up my chi flow."

Akali and Kona were sitting together on several throw pillows, perched cross-legged on the floor of a cold, open-air pagoda. Incense burned at the structure's center, and many of their ninja-student peers were seating similarly about the Cultivation Hall. Here was where the martial artists of the Kinkou Order, be they grand master or lowly disciple, came to cultivate their _Nei'gong_, or their inner power. Meditation and solemn contemplation were proven methods of strengthening a martial artist's chi- the inner life force- and the manifestation of that chi. Be it a kick from a Shojin monk with force like a dragon swinging its tail, a burst of wind from an exile's blade, or the impregnable defense of a Wuju master's iron will, all Ionian martial arts were born from chi and from contemplation and realization of that self's chi.

Thus, all Kinkou Xiao'nin were obligated to spend several hours every few days, silently reflecting about all that they have learned in a bid to deepen their understanding of their skills.

However, it seemed even here, Akali could not escape the sharp tongues of gossip that had plagued her for the last few days. This time, it was the She-Ogre and her Posse of Stupid that were whispering at the edge of the Cultivation Hall. Looking over at her. Sneering. _Smiling._ The She-Ogre was just one more in a legion's worth of her peers that just loved to eat her alive whenever she fell, screwed up, or in any way failed to live up to her heritage as the Pruner's daughter. Which, of course, was almost always. Bad enough to them that Akali should be the one to be descended from a Trimultrivite, she had the misfortune of further sinning against them- she wasn't a Shen or Zed-like prodigy.

Damn, damn it all.

Sighing, Akali fell back on the throw pillows, gazing up at the centuries-old roof that capped the Cultivation Hall. Her gaze wandered through the bridges and valleys of those ancient wooden supports. If only she could take back what she said on that bridge. Start over again.

A voice cut into her pensive veil.

"Akali." She swiveled her head at the mention of her name. Standing before her was a ninja messenger... and not just any messenger. The badge on his arm, a silver scythe over a green field, told her instantly from whom the message was. He was one of the Pruner of the Sacred Tree's special men. In other words, one of Mother's personal lapdogs.

She was _so_ not in the mood.

"What do you want?" Akali scratched at her nose. "I'm busy, you _Sha'bi_." she said, lying over several silk pillows on her back.

The man's smooth, hairless face twitched at the vulgar language. His already thin eyes narrowed even further.

"Your honorable mother requests your presence immediately."

Akali glanced outside, estimating the time by the position of the sun.

"I don't have training with her for another fukkin' hour."

"You will do as you are told, Xiao'nin." The man ground his teeth at the young girl's defiance. "And you will refrain from using such language in her honorable presence."

"Go blow it up your ass, _Gou'si_."

The man leaned forwards, his eyes growing dangerous. Even Kona seemed to be put a little on edge by the man's anger. Lapdog he may be, but Mother never did tolerate weaklings under her service. The man was almost certainly an elite of the elite of their order. Akali, however, still lay on her back, defiant. Even if she couldn't afford to be rebellious to Mother, she still had the spirit to give her lapdogs a hard time. It was the thought that counted.

Needless to say, the man did not appreciate Akali's 'spirit'.

"You don't want me to force you, kid. How do you think being dragged off unconscious to your mother by a '_Gou'si_' will do to your reputation? Don't you think you've humiliated yourself enough for a week?"

At this, Akali sighed quietly. So even her mother's lapdogs have heard about her 'secret confession', have they?

She jumped to her feet, and turned to Kona. She smiled in some soft apology.

"I'll see you later, Kona." Her friend gave her a sympathetic grin, and raised her hand in goodbye. Akali didn't even care to glance at the messenger before setting off.

"I can find my own way there." She said, and set off to her mother's quarters at the other side of the Kinxui Fortress. Satisfied, the messenger stepped back, and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

><p>It was quiet in Mother's quarters. The current Pruner of the Sacred Tree liked it that way; kept it that way, by her edict. That tyrant had an iron grip upon anything she cared about, so no wonder her daughter was so messed up, Akali mused.<p>

The teenage ninja strode in, entering Mother's private dojo. Seated at the other end of the room was a woman, clothed in the robes of a martial arts master. Approaching forty now, the Pruner of the Sacred tree still had a figure befitting a warrior, and a full mane of dark hair that fell in sheets down the sides of the woman's head, framing a face that would have been beautiful, exquisite even, if not for the thin notes of severity. The crow's feet, the frown lines, and the piercing eyes that could cut steel.

This was her mother, Akasou, Kinkou Trimultrivte, Fist of Shadow and Pruner of the Sacred tree.

Akali turned, and first bowed to Mother as was Ionian custom, before sitting cross-legged onto the bamboo mat floor. Her mother didn't mince words with her greeting.

"I wanted to start your training early, child."

"Fine."

"I didn't inconvenience you?"

"No. I was meditating with Kona at the Cultivation Hall."

"Good."

Akasou tipped her hand up, bidding Akali to rise, and at Mother's behest, she obeyed. There was no more defiance from Akali, not like she dared show to Mother's lapdog. She had learned that lesson long ago.

"So you fancy that Shen boy." Akasou tossed out causally. The corners of her mouth jerked up by a fraction of an inch. It was barely a twitch of the face, but Akali knew Mother well. She may as well be bursting out with laughter. God damn it. Was there anyone who didn't hear about her rejection in this monastery?

Akasou's faint smile grew.

"I approve…"

"Mother-"

"Of him and no one else." Akasou cut in bluntly. "The name of the Aka clan is long and storied and that boy is worthy enough to join with our honorable lineage. I congratulate you on your adequate choice of men. I pray upon you children that will be healthy and strong."

"That is disgusting, Mother, and you underestimate me." Akali snapped, stripping off her study robes. "I am nothing more than a blade for Kinkou; heir to the title of the Fist of Shadow… not like some ridiculous love-struck town-girl." Striding over to her mother's cabinets, she reached out for her sparring uniform.

"Perhaps I overestimate you, child. I worry sometimes that there is nothing beyond for you than the Kinkou."

Akasou rose, pulling on her own Master's robe on as she did. The brilliant white field contrasting against the deep crimson of the stripes along her shoulders of the robe was proof to the entire _Wulin_- the martial arts world- that she was grand master of her Kung Fu techniques." Though it is my honor to serve as the Fist of Shadow, and the world's honor to be served by me, my path is destined to be a bloody and lonely one. Should you follow in my footsteps, child, you would never have the simple pleasures of life. An ordinary town-girl crush might be good for you."

Now this didn't sound like the mother she knew. The famously uptight Akasou? Advocating the ordinary?

Uhg.

Akali shivered at the countless memories of suffering under Mother's punitive tutelage. The woman known as Akasou may be one of the strongest and most talented martial artists in the entire _Wulin_, but Akali knew from firsthand experience that Mother knew fuck all about parentage. Akasou used to force her to spend a full day outside holding buckets of water in the air whenever someone other than Shen had come ahead of her in drilling exercises. Akali's arms were still sore, it felt like, from the immediate month after Zed had been adopted into the Order. It had taken that long before Akasou gave up on her daughter ever overtaking Zed, and not without a healthy amount of complaining.

Finished, she securely tied her robe, and rose.

Akali marched down to one end of the dojo, her black sparring uniform fully donned and flowing about her. She had long since finished the forms section of her instructions with her mother, and was now practicing sparring with Akasou every day.

Akali turned on her heel, and bowed to Mother, signaling Akasou to begin her exercises. Her mother gave the slightest of inclinations in reply.

And then, Akasou stepped forwards, striking deeply with the point of her fingertips. her feet were slow, but her fists were lightining fast. Akasou's filed, razor-sharp fingernails zoomed past; Akali could hear the air hiss from the speed of the Fist of Shadow's strike. She would have had her eyes put out if she hadn't stepped to the side at the last instant. Though Akali loathed admitting it, she knew: Mother really was incredible.

"What do you care about Shen anyways, Mother?" Akali said as coldly as she dared, while dodging a wicked thrust. Ugh. She hated that kung fu style.

"Hah." Akasou kept lunging forwards with swift, deadly strikes, her daughter barely dodging each one. "You know, your mother was quite the beauty back in the day."

Of course Akali knew it. Akasou reminded her constantly of her power and beauty in her glory years. But Akali knew that emotionally, she was a paper tiger. Despite the Pruner of the Sacred Tree's proud and diginied appearance, Akali knew that Mother was hiding behind her arrogant coldness. Deep inside the Pruner of the Sacred Tree really was a crude, afeminate she-demon that didn't know how to connect with people- so she chose to push them away.

Akali quickly learned to treat her mother's speech as something like a tell; when mother grew blunter and cruder with her words, it was high time to run, hide or find one of Mother's underlings to quickly put in the line of fire and flee. The alternative was usually being picked out and forced to run outside for fifty _Li_ or something while Mother sat outside watching her, drinking tea and pouting.

In fact, judging by how sloppy Mother's speech was getting, something about what they said was pissing her off right now-

The young ninja was brought back to earth by a stinging straight punch from Akasou, leaving the junior ninja's forearms shaking and numb. She winced at the pain. This was bad. Akali only hoped that she would be able to walk by the time Mother was finished with her 'rampage'.

"You and-!" Akasou stepped back, letting Akali's desperate kick whiff past her face. The snarl of her words was getting worse. "—Shen should've been siblings!"

Akasou patted down two punches, and then turned to bring her own leg up into a rear kick. The savage blow kicked out Akali's feet, toppling her balance, and forcing the young Xiao'nin to cartwheel back on her hands. But this was the only mistake that Akasou needed to finish it.

"Back in the day, Master Khen-" Akasou slid forwards, tracking her young daugther's movements, and then leaped up, locking her thighs around Akali's head. Akali tried to pry her mother's legs off, but Akasou was too strong. The weight of their bodies combined overcame Akali's center of gravity, sending the both of them toppling to the ground- but with Akali on the bottom.

"Gugh!" The ninja trainee hit the tatami floor hard, knocking her breath out. With Akali now safely trapped between her legs, Akasou resumed her diatribe.

"-Back in the day Khen and I were practically engaged. We were the two best in our class! Comrades for years! And then that damn Su-Ling woman stole him from me."

_Nobody stole anyone from you; you're just a frigid bitch..._ is what Akali might have muttered under her breath, if she had any breath to speak with. As it was, Akali barely had enough oxygen flowing to her brain to think, let alone retort in wit thanks to her mother's leg-to-headlock. Akali was already patting the ground in surrender, but Akasou was no longer paying attention.

"M-Mother..." Akali muttered through a face full of Akasou's leg. "...can't... breathe..."

"Country hick. What did she have that I didn't? Beside her stupidly soft hair… and her kind eyes..." Akasou was grumbling to the ceiling now, ignoring her slowly suffocating daughter. She frowned in contemplation.

"Mm-pmh..." Akali replied, drunk on oxygen deprivation.

"Well, whatever," Akasou got up, releasing her daughter as she did.

Burning, Akali felt. Everything was around her was burning. She fell to the floor and coughed, tears in her eyes, drawing greedy breaths.

"G-ghaak."

"Oh quit your melodrama," Akasou sighed, rolling her eyes. She started stripping off her master's robes in an extremely unladylike manner. "Training is finished for today, my daughter. You may retire to your room, and prepare for our annual pilgrimage. Pack light and intelligently. We have a long journey ahead of us over the next few weeks."

"G-ghk." Akali would have replied, but her windpipe felt like it was swollen shut. She bowed in 'gratitude', and then retreated.

* * *

><p>It was finally quiet in Hirana Monastary. The only sound that could be heard throughout the largely empty halls was the soft pit-patter of a grand master's blood. Fresh scarlet blended with old crimson upon the stained stone floor. Grandmaster Bao's breath had ceased, his limbs had stilled, and his eyes had long since been fixed downwards, staring blankly at into the ground. Death had, at long last, claimed the old man.<p>

But not before the Blood Moon Sect had gotten what they wanted out of him.

Shueto, who was sitting on a wooden stool facing Grandmaster Bao, turned and looked up to his sister. His hands were coated up to the elbow in blood. As he was busy working upon the late Grandmaster, he had neglected the taking any sort of notes during his 'interrogation'. Hell, he wasn't even sure what the good master was saying half of the time. His sister acted as his scribe; busily jotting down every word the Grandmaster said, screams, curses and pleads aside.

Shuezi turned the inked paper solemnly. On it, the three largest characters stood out in particular:

均

衡

廟

And Shueto smiled in reply, understanding.

He slapped his knee, stood and stretched. Oof. He really was sore. He had been sitting for way too long. Shuezi helpfully handed him his coffin. The older brother grasped it with a single hand and hefted the massive box back squarely on his hips.

"Ready?" Shueto asked.

Shuezi cocked her head, and grinned.

"Good." Shueto turned and started strolling to the exit. They would finally leave, a temple-turned tomb in their wake. "To the Kinkou Monastery, then."

* * *

><p>Akali turned, her pack on her back, with only a thin Kinkou Order's uniform shielding her from the brisk, biting wind and but a few small parcels of food in her pack, despite the week-long journey that faced her. She gazed up at the mountain-clasped Kinxui Hidden Fortress above her, watching every blazing torch mounted along its long walls slowly be extinguished, one-by-one, shrouding the fortified monastery in night and darkness. When she lowered her head, nearly every member of the entire Kinkou Order spread out below her, each packed similarly to her, lightly. Kinkou ninjas were made of tougher stuff than ordinary men. Every ration left unpacked was a Kinkou mark of pride to them; it was proof of their endurance and tenacity in the face of fatigue and hunger and it was proof of the depth of their commitment to austerity.<p>

...And there was something else, this time.

The Dai'nin, the elite-caste ninjas, were standing at attention at the Kinxui Hidden Fortress' main gates. Their wide-brimmed hats might have marked them at first glance as lowly farmers. However, instead of bamboo, their hats were made of the finest, darkest silk. And their robes were a pitch black instead of the more common colors of gray for a Xiao'nin junior ninja, or dark blue for a Chu'nin; intermediate ninja.

They were all just standing... and waiting.

"Kona," Akali bent forwards, whispering to her friend, who was busy polishing off what little food rations she had. Kona always did prefer catching her breakfast, for whatever reason. "What are the Dai'nin doing up there?"

"Mm-Mpmh."

Kona's head swiveled upwards, her eyes straining to look at the black-shrouded figures standing in the distance. She frowned, bent back down and continued chewing at her rice ball, her brow furrowed in contemplation.

"I dunno, 'Kali." Suddenly, Kona swallowed, stood, and set her hand to her eyes, scanning the crowd of Kinkou before them. "Come to think of it, I don't see Master Khen or your mom." Akali's mouth twitched at the casual mention of Mother, but she let it slide. Now that Kona had mentioned it, where was Mother?

And then, the main gates to the Kinkou Order burst open, from inside, out strode two masked figures, followed by four of the Kinkou's Shadow Guard- Master's Khen's personal men, on their arms shone a badge with a golden eye over a blue field.

To the right, Headmaster Khen marched. He had his face mask on, concealing all but his eyes out of view. Dark robes, a dark mask, and twin swords were mounted upon the leader of the Kinkou Sect. Their leader was normally quite a friendly man. Not like most others that were Eye of Twilight at all, the Kinkou Elders would titter, but it offered to him widespread respect, even among other sects. But right then, right now- behind the mask, you could only see the cold, calculating eyes of a warrior.

To his left, it was Mother. Master Akasou strode forwards, clad in green, and with a smaller mask that covered the woman's lower face. In Akali's opinion, Mother did so to little effect. Mother always looked scary, balaclava or not. The mask only emphasized that point. Strapped to the woman's hips were sharpened, bladed throwing rings that could be used almost like swords in each hand; it was a modified weapon of Shojin origin known as chakram.

And in between them, a rather little square object, covered in black cloth. Was it a box? Two by two of Master Khen's personal Dai'nin, the Shadow Guard, were transporting it upon large, wooden rods inserted along each side, like it was some fanciful lord being carried upon a litter. Somehow, though it was neither imposing in size nor appearance, that little box put Akali's hair on edge. Something terrible was inside of it. Some kind of awful chi.

"Why... why are Master Khen and mother in their battle regalia?" Akali bent forwards and whispered, "And what is that... box?"

Transfixed, her fellow junior ninja could only shake her head in reply.

"'Kali... I have no idea."

Then, Headmaster Khen turned to one of his lieutenants; his voice radiated out from behind his mask unusually brisk and curt. Something was putting the Headmaster on edge.

"We're finished here, Sao. Let's get the Order moving." The lieutenant nodded, and then turned and whistled. The sharp sound cut deep into the night.

At his command, the cattle drivers yelled, the pack animals brayed, and the Kinkou pilgrimage caravan set out on its way; a long, single file march down the treacherous slopes and deadly falls of Mount Kinxui, all the way to their rented ships docked in the village harbor several miles away. And from there, they were to travel all the way from there to Ing'Xao village.

But before Akali turned to begin her own journey, she gave the box one last look. It bounced along harmlessly enough, being jostled while carried down the rocky slopes by four of their Order's best.

But...

Just what about that box... made her feel like it was going home.

* * *

><p><strong><em>What is Wuxia?<em>**

**_"(The Wuxia Hero) is honest in words, effective in action, faithful in keeping promises, fearless in offering his own life to free the righteous from bondage."_**

**- Historian Sima Qian**

**The word _wuxia_ is composed of two characters. The first character, _wu_ is used to describe things having to do with martial arts, war, or the military. The second character, _xia_ refers to the type of protagonist found in _wuxia_ fiction, and is also a synonym for chivalry. Thus, _wuxi__a_ fiction is translated as martial-chivalric fiction. Wuxia is all about martial arts, but it is also about honor, about romance, about loyalty, and about betrayal and revenge. Power and elegance- Samuel L Jackson describes this staple Chinese genre well in the below quote:**

**_"Wuxia. Say it gently... 'whooshah'... and it's like a breath of serenity embracing you. Say it with force, 'WuSHA!', and you can feel its power."_**

**— Samuel L. Jackson**

**I only hope I can do this long and honored genre justice as the story progresses.**


	3. Snow

It had been a long, tiring journey for the Blood Moon assassins; they had traveled hundreds of _li_ over a week by stormy boat from the Hirana Monastary, located on the Eastern coast of the mainland of Ionia, to the other side of the island chain, to the North-Western Island of Ling'yun Kwan, where the Kinkou Order was located. Once there, Shueto and Shuezi had to take a bumpy, rickety carriage to the foot of Mount Kinxui, where the Kinxui Hidden Fortress was rumored to be located. It was a half-day hike from the foot of the mountain up rocky, treacherous slopes that were not made easier by the large, clunky coffins that were chained to the sibling assassin's hips. By the time they had arrived at the Kinxui Hidden Fortress, the two were drenched, boiling in their own personal pools of sweat. Blood might shine upon their scarlet robes, but sweat stained the folds of cloth just like any other liquid.

Shueto and Shuezi stood, standing outside of the Kinxui Hidden Fortress, shivering. The sun had gone down, rapidly changing the temperatures from boiling hot to freezing cold. The stiff, cold wind caught in their scarlet robes, cutting through the folds of cloth to take nips at their flesh, turning the wet, sweat-drenched cloths from suffocating to freezing. And the two of them stood similarly frozen, stunned in disbelief.

In front of them, a low-ranking Kinkou disciple bowed deeply to the two assassins in apology.

"Please excuse the inconvenience, honored guests. But the majority of our Monastery has departed upon an annual pilgrimage to Ing'Xao village for the Lunar Revel, at the Warrior Saint's Shrine." The Kinkou guard glanced curiously at the red information pamphlet that the Blood Moon assassins had given him. "You say you are representatives of a religious sect? Interesting. I'm sure our Headmaster Khen will be intrigued in what your sect's tenets have to say when he returns from his pilgrimage."

The Kinkou guard bowed again.

"Once again, deepest apologies, but we simply cannot receive visitors into our monastery properly with so many of our Order out on journey." The Kinkou guard pressed a small bag of coins into Shueto's stunned hands. "Here are traveling expenses for your trouble, honored sir. It should be more than enough for a few nights of room and board for you and your wife in the village below. Have a safe travel back home, and have a joyous Lunar Revel."

And then, in slight embarrassment, the Kinkou guard slunk back into the Kinxui Hidden Fortress, bowing all the way and closed the gates shut.

And the two Blood Moon assassins were left to stand alone, outside in the biting cold.

Shuezi's mouth twitched, her head cocked to the side in disbelief. Shueto, at a loss, kicked the ground, and put his hands on his hips.

"Shuezi... do you know where Ing'Xao village is...?"

Shueto's heart sank when he saw his sister's slow, reluctant hand signs. His sister, finished, slumped forwards and sighed in defeat.

"So..." Shueto slowly shuffled to a nearby rock, and lifted his coffin out from behind the stone. At this moment, it felt unusually heavy, in light of the months-long journey that they faced ahead of them. He put his coffin back squarely on his hips.

"To... to the South then."

And then the two slouched off, dejected, the wind clawing at their feet.

* * *

><p>Snowfall<p>

下雪

Two mountain monks play chess.

山僧对棋坐

The board is dark, the board is quiet.

局上竹阴清

Only Heaven knows how game goes.

局上天下无人见

Only sometimes is there the sound of moving pieces.

时闻下子声

* * *

><p>Despite the light snowfall, there was a small lakeside tea-house that was still open for business. In fact, it was rather fitting, given the cold. A steady stream of pilgrims, wind-worn and cold-weary, shuffled into the tea-house to enjoy a hot drink and a warm snack. Akali was sitting with Kona, looking out at the new icing that was starting to coat the edges of the lake coast. She raised her cup of tea to her lips. The black tea steamed heavily in the biting cold. The hot drink was neither subtle nor sophisticated, but it was warm, and she was freezing her ass off, so Akali drank.<p>

A sigh of frosted wind carried the smells of roasting tea leaves from the tea-house behind them, singing soft notes of warmth, home, and family to Akali's red-rimmed nose.

"Hamph." Akali blew out a cloud of hot breath into the air and watched the mist float, spread, and then finally fade away into the sky. If only she could do the same with her worries.

"That's gross, Akali." Kona raised her own cup to her lips and drank.

"Nyah." Akali reached down for more tea snacks.

Once the Kinkou pilgrimage had made landfall, the entire group had dispersed into multiple stealth groups on the mainland. And yet, they were still to all take the same path to Ing'Xao village. The Kinkou caravan had been deployed in their signature "_Spider's Web Array_" formation that had been developed several centuries ago by a famous Kinkou-turned War General; an entire army was to take up disguises and split up into many different teams, each far enough away that they as the entire "_Spider's Web Array_" could slip through the countryside unnoticed, but close enough that any one of them could reinforce each other in case of attack, like the many threads of a spider web. The other martial sects had dubbed it "_The Invisible Army_" and its closely-guarded secrets were deep-seated source of pride for the Kinkou.

Akali and Kona, being junior ninjas, had been sent to a group at the very center of the formation, where it was deemed the safest and least likely to come under attack. It also meant that they were the group with the slowest pace and the most free time, hence the leisurely stop at the snow-shrouded tea house.

Akali glanced over her shoulder, at their fellow members. Dressed as no more than humble merchants, their handlers were acting as their "parents" on a trip to Ing'Xao village for the lunar festivities. Three men, two women; all trained Kinkou ninja. They were Chu'nin, intermediate-level ninja, and no doubt miffed at being dispatched more as babysitters for Kona and her than anything else. Shen wasn't among them, nor to any of other teams that most of the Xiao'nin were dispatched, to no surprise. He was most likely shadowing the one of the front-scouting parties with the elite of their ninjas, preparing to shoulder even more of their Order's burden. He was out there, risking life and limb for them all... while she sat, and sipped tea.

Akali tried to take something like a defiant gulp, but she regretted it as soon as the boiling liquid reached her mouth. She lurched forwards in pain, clutching her mouth; the scalding hot tea roasting her tongue.

"aaggg..."

"Jeez, Akali." Kona shook her head; her expression tinged with pity. "Let me go get you some fresh snow." Kona got up, and stretched, before shuffling off towards the lakeside. "Ey, remember, don't bite at your shoulder while I'm gone and try not to attract attention. It's against the law to leave 'special' people unattended."

Akali did her best to flip Kona the bird while pawing at her charred tongue, even though she knew that her friend wouldn't see it. Still, it was the thought that counted. A light tap on her shoulder cut through her groans of pain.

Akali looked up, and saw a large, rough hand with a small black pill on it.

"Here. Take it. It'll help your burn."

Akali looked further. The hand was attached to an aged man, who looked to be in his early fifties or so. He had a wide-brimmed hat on, and dark, ragged clothes. His hair was unkempt; strings of black hair threaded down from under his hat, tangling with a scratchy beard that grew out tangled out of the man's lower face. Under his hat, the man's sharp, clear eyes cut through his bedraggled appearance. Watching. Judging.

Akali took on the cutest, most innocent voice she could make up with her burned tongue:

"I'm sowry mister. _Ma'ma_ shaid not to take candy from swtrangers"

The man chuckled.

"It's alright, _Xiao'mei_. You can trust me."

Akali gave the man the best 'bullshit' look that she could muster up. It wasn't lost on the man. Laughing a little more, the man reached into his robes, and pulled out a necklace. It was a heavy rosary, made of extremely thick wooden beads, with religious sutras painted over each bead. "Do you know what these are, young one?"

"Oh... you're a monk." Now that Akali could see it, what she took for dark rags on the man was actually a worn and ragged _kasaya_, a monk's uniform. He must be one of those wandering religious ascetics.

"_Amitabha. _That's correct. My holy name is Tripitaka, of the Shojin Temple. A pleasure." The monk held his hand out a little further, the little pill beckoning. "Now... do you want the medicine or not-"

Akali lunged out and grabbed it. Once she had the drug in her grasp, she tossed the pill onto her tongue as quickly as she could. The tiny capsule melted on her tongue like it was made of snow. She closed her eyes in relief. Ohhhhh. Sweet, blessed coolness.

And then, she remembered her manners.

"Sorry!" Akali leaped to her feet, and turned. "Thank you for the medicine!" And she bowed as deeply as she could.

Tripitaka smiled.

"You're too kind. It was just a capsule of a dried orange peel, little ninja. No need to trouble yourself so." The monk leaned forwards, his eyes gleaming.

"Still, thank you." Akali rose, her bow finished. "Brother Shojin."

The monk smiled at the honorific, like it was some kind of inside joke.

"I haven't been called a 'Brother' in a long, long time. It's a misnomer, in all honesty. I'm not a very good monk these days. I eat meat like a lion and I drink wine like water, ha!" The monk reached down, and swept out a spot on the snow-covered bench next to Akali. He then plopped himself right next to the young ninja with casual ease. "And you, _Xiao'mei_? Does the young lady have a name?"

"...Um." Akali frowned at this. Mother always did say the Kinkou must be secretive, mysterious like the dark of midnight. But what could be the harm in chatting with a ragged monk? "It's Akali."

"Well, Akali. It's nice to meet you. In exchange..."

Tripitaka's eyes shone, and his smile grew. "...You want to tell me what the entire Kinkou Order is doing, moving through this countryside in formation?"

It took Akali a second to realize that her, and perhaps her entire Order's cover was blown.

She jumped away from the man, her hands racing up to assume a combat position. One hand up to guard, the other racing down to grasp at a dagger hidden in her robes.

"How... how did you know that!?"

"Haha. I might be past my prime, little ninja. But I can still spot soldiers in formation when I see one. Is that the world famous '_Spider's Web Array_'? Very impressive. I nearly missed it."

_Who was this man? _Akali bit her lip in confusion._ How did he know so much?_

The monk started to get up from the bench, but Akali shouted:

"STOP!" She reached into her uniform, and pulled out a small whistle strung around her neck. "One more step, and I call for back-up. My immediate comrades will be here in less than one second. In less than a minute, half an army."

Despite everything, Tripitaka smiled at the threat.

"I'm afraid you're wrong on the first count, little ninja." Tripitaka held his hand out, beckoning Akali to look. To see. "Your friend is rather late, isn't she?"

Akali turned, and to her horror-

Oh no.

Kona.

A dozen yards away, she was lying face up in the snow, her eyes closed, not moving. Already, the snow cover was starting bury her best friend. Further down, Akali could see the bodies of her Chu'nin handlers, all lying still in the snow.

"Kona-!" Akali grunted, and sprinted to her friend. She pulled Kona up from underneath the partial cover of the snow. Flakes of ice fell off of Kona's face, but despite the girl's stillness, Akali could see the faintest trace of the clouds of breath coming from her friend's mouth. The unconcious girl's chest moved up and down, as if she had simply drifted off into sleep.

Oh thank Heaven.

She was alive. Akali cradled her friend's head in her lap, keeping it away from the cold of the snow.

"_Dim Mak- _'The Touch of Death'. It's a secret technique of the Shojin. One clean strike to the _Ren'gong meridian_ can incapacitate any foe."

Akali's head snapped upwards, with murder in her eyes. Her breath came out in an angry snarl, her white fangs of teeth were bared, clouds steaming out of her mouth in a white plume. The wind started to pick up, stirring up the snow about her feet.

"You. Son of a bitch. How dare you attack the Kinkou Order. How dare you attack my friend!" Akali rose, her hands floating to her sides, her fingers curling into claws. Her left hand pulled her robe dagger free. "I don't care if you're a holy man, I'll kill you! Rah!"

A roar, a lunge, a strike, and the razor-sharp tip of her dagger was nearly at the monk's eyes. Only Tripitaka's iron grip on the young girl's forearm kept her from plunging her fingers in and tearing his eyes out with her hidden knife.

"_Amitabha_, young one. I am not your enemy."

"Bastard," Akali snarled, and she flexed her fingers over the hilt of her knife, as if willing her fingers to fly off her hand and lodge themselves in the treacherous monk's face. "Let me go so I can claw your face off!"

"Three strikes to the Lesser Yang, _Sanjiao_ Meridian means paralyzation for a week. Four after that to the Greater Heart, _Qigong_ Meridian means death. If I wanted to kill your allies, I would have done so." Tripitaka's sharp, piercing gaze bored into Akali's eyes, which stared fiercely right back at him. "Peace, young one. Lower your hand."

The monk's grip was like a vice. It was like trying to push against a statue. Akali struggled for a little longer, before giving up. Slowly, carefully, Akali acquiesced, and relaxed her arm. Still, she didn't take her eyes off of the deceitful monk. Tripitaka released the Xiao'nin's arm in turn.

"I put your friends out because I wanted the truth. There are little answers one can get from a mob of guards. Just answer my questions, and I will leave you in peace."

"And what truth is that?" The distrust was clear in Akali's eyes. "Hurry up, old man!"

Tripitaka looked Akali carefully, searching for any trace of deception within her eyes.

What did he see, pondered Akali. Did he see fury or confusion, maybe? The monk was probing her mentally, but Akali felt determined to give the bastard nothing else. The young ninja emptied her mind and kept it full of rage as best she could.

Finally, he spoke.

"...Have you seen a man clothed in red. Wielding a black blade?"

"What? No!"

"Have you heard of a religious martial-art cult known as the Blood Moon Sect?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"...Hm." Tripitaka scratched his beard thoughtfully. "So you don't know? So do the Kinkou not know about the Blood Moon Sect? Or is Master Khen keeping secrets from you?"

"Know what?! How do you know our headmaster?!"

"...Never mind, young one. Your confusion is answer enough." Tripitaka bowed respectfully. "I apologize for the circumstances. Good day, little ninja."

The monk turned, and started walking away, but he stopped. Tripitaka leaned back, just in time for a flying shuriken to flicker past his face. The projectile soared past its target, eventually landed skidding upon the frozen ice of the lake. The monk turned to Akali in response, his eyebrows raised.

"Wait." Akali had stepped forwards, her hand outstretched and her chest heaving with barely contained fury.

"You don't forgive easily, do you?" A smile started to creep onto the monk's ragged face. "You have excellent spirit."

"Don't mock me! I answered a question for you." Akali grit her teeth. "Now you answer a question for me!"

Tripitaka raised his eyebrows in even further surprise, and his smile started to grow. He seemed to find the whole situation quite funny, Akali noted bitterly. She wondered how well the damn monk would smile with a broken jaw. Yet despite Akali's blood-lust, Tripitaka to face Akali properly.

"Fair enough." The monk folded his hands behind his back. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me," Akali demanded. "Who are you really?"

"I did not lie." Tripitaka pulled his_ kasaya_ to the side, revealing the Curling Dragon etched under his left collarbone, a sect tattoo of the Shojin. The marked tattoo had been nearly scraped off by a single cut, a shiny pink scar shone from underneath the black ink. "I claim myself a man of the Shojin Monastery. Even if the Shojin Monastery does not claim me."

"So." Akali stated flatly. "You're an outcast."

"That's right. I once was a holy man. Now, I'm just a sinner, wandering the _Wulin_ of Ionia, searching for penance."

"Penance?! What kind of penance involves stalking an army of ninjas? Or knocking out my friend?"

At this, a bark of cold laughter escaped the exile monk. His humor took the form of a billowing cloud of breath erupting from Tripitaka's mouth. The wisps of laughter rose and dissipated, fading away into the gray cloud cover of the sky.

A few strands of dirty hair fell over the exile monk's face as he lowered his head.

"... the most terrible kind, little ninja." Tripitaka lifted his wide hat, his sharp eyes gleaming from underneath the shade of his brim. "Penance by delivering divine retribution."

And then, in a burst of snow, the wandering monk disappeared, leaving Akali alone, standing in the swirling frosty wind.

"Asshole." She muttered.

* * *

><p>Impossible, Master Khen thought. He could scarcely believe his eyes. This was hell on earth.<p>

The Eye of Twilight stood with his elite guard, surrounded by blood and gore. The entire swath of meadow was stained red with blood, body parts lay scattered about, and the inn-house that the Kinkou forward scouting party had been staying at had burned to the ground. Those bastards must have set fire to the inn to drive their Kinkou party out, and then slaughtered everyone and anything that tried to escape.

Khen bent down to look at a pale, bloodied arm lying in the ground. It hadn't been cut off; the ragged edges told Master Khen that it had been sheared or torn off. He didn't recognize the cloth around the arm, either, which meant that the arm came from a civilian. So whoever did this didn't care about killing bystanders or innocents. That made these unknown foes ever more dangerous.

He sighed.

Forgive us, nameless victim, he pleaded in his mind. Poor, damned souls.

"Khen." A woman's voice called out. Khen knew who it was immediately.

There was only one person in all of Ionia wouldn't bother with honorifics when addressing him. His longtime comrade Akasou. "We found them. They dragged our men out to the treeline."

Weary, Khen looked up, to see Akasou waiting for him at the edge of his group, surrounded by her own soldiers. He stood and bowed to the carnage before turning to follow his comrade. Master Khen walked along the blood-stained snow, noting that the even, pink spread was coalescing into thick, defined trails. So the bastards did drag his Dai'nin out. One by one, it looked like.

"My God," Khen started, stepping forwards. His Dai'nin had been taken to the trees and lashed to each other, while still alive, it looked like. But they were all dead now. Old blood mixed with new blood in outspread rings around each man. "They've been tortured."

"They were our finest warriors," Akasou ventured confidently. Despite the gore around her, the Fist of Shadow's face remained impassive. Khen always admired that strength in her, but right now, it only came across as cold, even offensive. "They would never have talked."

"I don't think matters, Akasou." Master Khen shook his head, sighing. "Not with these people." Khen waved his men forwards, and they dutifully jogged forwards at his behest. "Bury them," the Kinkou headmaster ordered, "Bury whomever you can find." Khen frowned as he counted the number of Dai'nin that had been tied to the treeline. The grand master ninja's sharp eyes missed nothing. Even taking into account the mess of body parts by the meadow outside, he could tell that a couple of his Dai'nin were not accounted for. "Two have been taken."

"Should we arrange search and rescue, _Shi Fu_?" The leader of the Shadow Guard, Lieutenant Sao, cut in, his voice emanating out from behind the man's black mask.

"No. They're dead."

"But-"

"Do you think that the people who did this would take prisoners, Lieutenant?"

"_Shi Fu_- Apologies." Lieutenant Sao turned to look at the carnage, and as he did, Master Khen could see something in the young man's eyes. "Do you know who did this?" The elite Kinkou did his best to remain impassive, but Khen could sense the edge of fear in the man's tones. It wasn't like a Kinkou to spook, especially a high-ranking one like Sao. This was definitely bad.

"No." Master Khen closed his eyes. "But we know why they did this, soldier."

Akasou tilted her head up at this.

"The Warrior Saint Codex. So these killers after it."

"Aye." Master Khen fixed Akasou with his most serious stare. "And we absolutely cannot let them intercept it before the Binding Ceremony."

Master Khen turned to the lieutenant.

"I want messengers to all '_Strands of the Web_' out at once with this message: 'Close ranks by half, alert level 'Black'. I want Dai'nin squads deployed to our flanks and rear as well. And not a word about this to any Kinkou at Chu'nin rank or below. Panic is the last thing our Order needs." Lieutenant Sao muttered an affirmation, then turned and left, barking orders at the ninja under his command to carry out their headmaster's orders.

Lastly, Master Khen turned to Akasou.

"Akase," Khen asked, using his familiar name for her. "Can I trust you to do something for me?"

"Mm?" In response, Akasou coolly tilted her head to the side.

"Go get Shen. Get him out of the forward parties and put him with the rest of the Xiao'nin. Keep him safe."

"Hmmm." A cold smile spread over Akasou's red lips. "An order to rescue the progeny of my greatest rival? How cruel of you, Khen."

"This is no time for jokes, Akase. I need to leave this to someone I can trust. Please."

Akasou turned without looking at the Kinkou headmaster.

"As you wish, Khen."

Akasou leaped, leaving behind a small explosion of snow, jumping all the way to the snowy treetops in a single bound. Down far below, Master Khen quietly gave his thanks.

And then, he turned back to the black-shrouded box where the Warrior-Saint Codex was housed. Four of his best Shadow Guard were still kneeling by it, ready once more to carry the burden of the Ark that housed the Codex on their backs. Quiet. Vigilant. Khen solemnly swore to himself by the lives of those who had been lost- he would not let the Codex leave his sight until they could take it to Ing'Xao Village and finish their sacred duty to uphold harmony and balance within Ionia. To save the world's imbalanced men from destroying themselves out of lust of power, wealth, or pleasure. And their newest duty, since the Warrior-Saint Codex fell under the protection of the Kinkou forty years ago- to keep the evils locked within the Codex sealed away forevermore.

* * *

><p>She was watching over her slowly waking allies, laying warmed towels over their heads on some straw mats that she laid out. Kona had already woken, and despite everything, claimed much-cleared sinuses and a titanic desire to sleep before laying back down for another nap. It seemed as if the bastard monk had been telling the truth. The entirety of her team had just been knocked out, each with a incredibly precise blow to the back of the neck.<p>

Akali was busy cursing the old monk with every expletive she knew and more- since she was inventing a few on the spot- when a flying snowball caught Akali over the shoulder. A familiar, feared voice floated over her head.

"Yo, my beloved daughter."

Uh oh. Was that Mother talking casually? Akali looked upwards, and to her horror saw the Pruner of the Sacred Tree, crouched over a snowy tree branch, with something that looked like a large clothed lump under her arms.

"Mom!" Akali rose, frantic. "We were attacked! There was this crazy Shojin monk who knocked everyone out and-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll hear all about it later. S'your birthday, right?"

'S'your' wasn't a word, which mean that this was bad. This was really really bad. Mother never talked like a country hick unless she was angry. And judging by Mother's bluntness, she was currently extraordinarily pissed.

"It... " Akali carefully leaned forwards to get a closer look at that lump. "It was two moons ago... Mother, what is that-"

"Eh, close enough." Akasou hefted the clothed lump onto a single arm. Wait, Akali realized... was that a-

"Mom-?"

"Happy birthday. Catch!" Akasou grunted and then threw the thing- which Akali now realized was a PERSON. Akali had just enough time to stand, before the flying boy that Akasou tossed like a shot put slammed into her chest, knocking the two of them backwards into the fresh snow.

"Oof!"

"Great." Akasou stood, and roughly pat her hands. "M'work here is done. Now hurry up and make grandchildren with Khen's spawn for me. I want to live vicariously through your crotch." And with that crude statement, Akasou sprang upwards in a burst of snow and disappeared.

Akali looked down to see who it was that was sprawled all over her. A stoic, handsome young boy about her age stared right back.

"Hi Shen."

"Akali." Shen replied cooly. Within the sounds of his voice were the tones of the slightest traces of annoyance. "I don't like your mom."

Akali sighed and started to pull herself up.

"Yeah," She replied. Shen, who had gotten up first, held out his hand to help her up. "Tell me about it."

* * *

><p>After their Chu'nin handlers had recovered from what they all embarrassingly agreed between themselves to be a simultaneous strike of anemia, they set off to keep pace with their assigned position in the '<em>Spider's Web Array'<em>. But now, with a newcomer.

Akali trotted sullenly behind Shen, who was silently leading the way. And behind them all...

Kona. Akali felt another jab at her back, and her mouth twitched in annoyance. Her dear friend wouldn't stop looking at her with that smirk. Or stop giving her that... smile. Akali knew that smile, and she didn't like it, or how Kona kept on trying to push her into Shen. She certainly was TRYING to get closer to him, but of course, every time Akali tried making small talk with the boy, nothing but white noise and at best, a little diseased squawk would escape her throat. If Shen noticed Akali's _irresistible_ charm, he didn't show it.

Besides, it was clear that Shen was angry. He was as emotionless as ever, but Akali could guess by his very special stare at the ground just how he was treated by her mother on her "retrieval mission". She couldn't imagine Shen liking any part of going from leading the charge at the front of the formation to being knocked out and carried like a sack of rice to the kiddie's section of the _'Spider's Web Array'_. If he was especially lucky, Mother would have given Shen a warning before jumping him.

She heard a groan float up from Kona in the back. Kona marched forwards, giving Akali a rough bump of the shoulders along the way.

Watch and learn, Akali heard her whisper. Kona turned back for an instant to peel down her eyelid and stick out her tongue at Akali. Then she hustled forwards.

"What's up, Shenny?" Kona said, jogging a bit to match pace with Shen, drawing a slight twitch of the head from the bot. "What'd you do to get stuck with us geniuses in the 'special' rickshaw, huh?"

Kona, despite everything, still managed to talk normally with the boy Akali had been working up weeks to ask one question to. The poor teenage ninja was equal parts jealous and amazed.

Shen regarded Kona for only a second, before shrugging.

"I'm not sure."

"C'mon... you're out there, everyday with all those rockstar Dai'nin. You gotta know something."

"...I really can't say." Shen frowned a bit. His dark eyes seemed to be staring out miles into the snowy ground. "But just before I was taken by Akali's mother, it felt like everyone else was on edge."

"On edge?"

"Like they were... afraid of something." Shen sighed, and put his hand over his neck, rubbing.

Kona turned back to look at Akali.

"Hey Akali, you think this has anything to do with that crazy monk you said flew in and knocked everyone out?" Kona smiled. "You know. The one with the 'touch of death'?"

"I-it was a hit to the back of the head. The monk called it, um... '_Dim Mak_'."

At this, Shen looked at Akali as well.

"Is this true, Akali? Your team was attacked?"

"Y-yeah." Akali managed to fumble out.

"Yeeeaah." Kona said, her stupid grin spreading. " And our babysitter Chu'nin are too embarrassed to admit that one old dude got the drop on them. In fact, Akali was the only one who managed to see him. It was all very impressive, I'm sure. And lil' Kali can tell you all about it!" Kona then gave Akali a hearty slap forwards, while slipping back. Akali was literally sent stumbling into Shen's attention.

_Kona_, Akali said to her friend in her mind,_ I hate you._

"A monk? From where?" Despite the boy's top grades in scouting and observation, Shen didn't seem to pick up on Kona's blatant match-making. That dense, pretty idiot. He instead interrogated Akali, his attention fully on her.

"H-he was an outcast from the Shojin."

"The Shojin-!" Shen pursed his lips. "They're one of the Five Great Sects. What is a Shojin doing here?"

"Five Great Sects?"

"Yeah. Father told me about them." Shen started to count off of his hands. "There are five martial arts schools in Ionia that everyone in the Ionian _Wulin_ generally recognize as the most powerful and influential: The Beggar's Sect, the Shojin Temple, the Peach Blossom Island, the Five Poisons Cult and finally, the Wudang Sect."

Shen closed his fist in contemplation. "Three righteous, two evil. Each one of these sects are stronger than ours by an order of magnitude. We would be small fry to them. So why is a Shojin doing here?"

"And what are we doing going on a pilgrimage in formation for?" Akali turned forwards, frowning.

"And what's in that box that Father and Mistress Akasou are guarding...?"

The two of them sighed in unison. Shen turned to Akali then to bounce off another one of his exploratory theories, while she did her best to keep up with the prodigy's sharp, analytic mind. But despite a few hiccups in the flow of her speech and a silent patch here or there as the teenage ninja tried to follow up, the young girl seemed to be doing alright with her little crush. It was really sweet.

At least, that was how Kona saw it.

And at the sight, she laughed.

* * *

><p>Shueto smiled.<p>

It looked like the Dai'nin that Shueto had interrogated made good on his promise of the location of the Warrior Saint Codex.

The Blood Moon assassin crouched and scanned the faraway clearing. Despite the color of their scarlet robes clashing horribly with the white of the snow, Shueto wasn't particularly afraid of being discovered. In fact, he savored battle and would like nothing more than to have the feeling of Kinkou flesh between his fingers once more. Perhaps the famous Kinkou Triumvirate might even give him a challenge.

However, he still had his orders from the Elder of the Blood Moon Sect. Track down the Warrior Saint Codex, he was told and retrieve it for the Elder. Simply walking in and killing everyone would be somewhat contrary to that goal. What if the cowardly Kinkou hid the Codex from them? Shueto and Shuezi couldn't kill a hiding spot. And so, the two deigned to control their killing. A little bit, piece by piece. A little massacre here or there was alright, as long as they never drove their prey into suicide. It was most unlike them, to be sure, and frustrating to some extent. But they feared the Blood Moon Elder more than they feared their desires.

Brother and sister stood at the edge of the treeline, watching the Kinkou titter about at the scene of their carnage. In the midst of the cloud of Kinkou, a black-shrouded box solemnly stood, guarded by four of who Shueto assumed were the Kinkou's best. Yet even warriors as seasoned as these could not cover the scent of fear emanating from them. It was delicious. Like appetizers before a five-course meal.

Then he saw, or rather felt, an incredible force of chi blossom from two faraway figures. One, a woman, clad in green with razor-sharp chakram mounted on her hips, and the other, a solemn man, in dark blue wearing a mask with a face as cold as the snow that fell at his feet. The woman seemed to argue with the man for a bit, before turning to leap away.

Magnificent, Shueto thought, as he watched the female ninja fly away. She was moving so quickly through the treetops that he could barely follow her with his eyes. He turned to his sister, who looked down and smiled. Shuezi stroked her coffin appreciatively, her pale white hands running up and down the length of the blackened mahogany. She made a one-off hand sign to Shueto.

_Yulgang likes his meal,_ her hands spoke, more quickly than any lips could, _he says that the blood of the Kinkou are delicious._

"Yeah," Shueto said, nodding. "Black Dragon likes her meal as well, " The two of them were grateful for the chance to feed the 'hungry dragons' within their coffins once again. It had been so long since their last meal- as long ago as Hirana Monastery.

Shuezi spoke through her hands again, though she seemed a bit embarrassed to ask. A slight blush rose to her cheeks. Y_ulgang wants to know when we'll be able to feed with his own teeth. He is tired of leftovers and scraps._

Shueto smiled.

He reached over, and patted Shuezi comfortingly on the head.

"Soon, dear sister." Shueto looked up to the blank gray sky. The Blood Moon, he knew, was rising. Silently waking from behind that cloak of suffocating clouds. And when it did, their dragons could feast all they wanted.

He reached down, to place his hand along the warm wood of his own coffin.

Soon, He promised his 'hungry dragon'. Soon we will truly feast.


	4. Evil

Rain falls upon the Lunar Revel

清明 时节 雨纷纷

On the road, the Red Traveler is tired and weary

紅路 人欲 断魂

He politely asks, at where an inn can be found?

问酒 家何 处 有

A shepherd boy points far away to Ing'Xao village

牧 童遥 指英芍 村

* * *

><p>She was standing before a field of glowing flowers, Akali imagined. The sight was beautiful. Then she opened her eyes and the field of gold was still there. A golden web of firelight pouring from its every strand, sprawled before her. Somehow, at the sight, Akali didn't feel so cold any longer.<p>

"It's beautiful." Akali repeated to no one in particular, as she stood at the apex of the meandering snow-shrouded bluff that their team had been scaling for the better part of the day.

Behind her, the last of the snowy forest that they had been trekking through, and Ing'Xao village sprawled out below them. Though the community was ordinarily a quiet farming settlement, during this part of the year the village literally burst at the seams with lively merchants standing in their cramped stalls peddling their wares to weary travelers journeying to this village to worship at Heaven's Gate for the Lunar Festival. Here was the first and oldest of holy sites that the mythical Warrior-Saint had consecrated nearly four hundred years ago during an age of terror known as the Rune Wars.

"It's beautifully cold." complained Kona. Her friend was unmoved by the awesome sight of the sea of lanterns and braziers in front of her. Her tone suggested she was looking at something more like a chair, or a rock. "Let's hurry and get to our inn. I want hot tea and pork bun_._"

Shen, who was a few yards above them, standing at the base of a thick, snow-covered tree branch, looked carefully over the surrounding landscape. The hill they had just scaled not only offered an excellent view of the village below, but of the forest behind and each flanking side of them. Akali tried hard not to stare at his eyes. They were clear and sharp, like a bird of prey's, and as he scanned, Akali thought he looked a lot like his father.

"Our other _'Spider's Web'_ teams are still out there," The boy reported, "But they don't seem to be moving to link up with us or anyone else. It looks like we're keeping formation into the village."

Akali turned to one of the Chu'nin that was posing as her merchant parents. A rather severe, dark-skinned, middle-aged woman that had her hair up in a bun under her wide-brimmed hat, and was busy whipping their pack ox in the right direction, cursing under her breath each time the stubborn animal sat down.

"Mooooom," Akali said in her driest voice possible, "Are we there yeeeeet?"

The Chu'nin twitched her head a bit at the annoyance.

"The story was that I am your aunt, Xiao'nin." the Chu'nin muttered under her breath. "Lin is your 'mother'." The Chu'nin jerked her head over at another severe looking woman kicking at a stubborn mule.  
>"Whatever. Are we going to be linking up with the rest of our caravan, 'Aunty'?"<p>

The Chu'nin frowned.

"No. We have received messages to maintain our cover. Orders are we will go up to the Warrior Saint's Gate to offer up our prayers in rotating groups. Master Khen will oversee the ritual. Then we will spend the night, and leave."

"We sure are being sneaky, even for ninjas. I mean, last year we rolled into Ing'Xao with flag-bearers, a parade and beating drums to announce our arrival. But now we're sneaking even all the way up to the temple. Why are we-"

"Quiet, Xiao'nin." The Chu'nin cut in sharply. "It is not yours or mine place to question."

"But-"

"Enough!" The woman growled, her eyes growing angry. The Chu'nin turned back to beating the ox. "Return to your position, girl." The woman said over the sound of her whipping flail. "You're distracting me."

Dejected, Akali slouched back to Kona and Shen, her shoulders hunched. They watched her expectantly.

"Mom's busy." Akali pouted, kicking a bit of snow on the ground.

"Wait," Kona interjected, "I thought she was my mom."

"Whatever."

Something was wrong. In the years before, the Lunar Revel was a time of celebration and solidarity for the Kinkou. It was, for lack of a better word, an annual vacation. But this year, with the mysterious box that Master Khen and her mother was guarding and moving through the Ionian countryside- even to offer up their yearly prayers to the Warrior Saint's shrine incognito, was unprecedented, at least in all of the years that Akali had gone.

"We should keep moving," Shen said, staring at the once-again mobile Chu'nin. They had finally whipped the pack animals into moving.

"... Something feels wrong." Akali sighed. "Really wrong."

"It's fine."Shen tilted his head up, and for a second, Akali saw a side of Shen she never saw before. It was pride. "Whatever it is, we will handle it. Because we are the Kinkou - sacred guardians of peace and balance in Ionia, and we cannot and will not fail- the world would have crumbled long ago if not for us."

At this, Akali laughed a little, and turned her head away.

"You're the man, Shen."

The sacred guardians of peace and balance... Akali rolled the words over in her head. She just couldn't picture herself as a 'sacred guardian' of anything. The title just seemed too honorable, too respected, too grand to ever fit her. Sure, she was still young, but at the rate she was going, she wasn't going to be sacred guardian of the Kinkou's kitchen, let alone the balance of the world.

Despite everything, she felt the burning of tears in her eyes. Damn it. She tried to wipe her eyes as surreptitiously as she could. Shen glanced at Akali, his sharp eyes watching her carefully, and Kona frowned a little. The two could read the angst in Akali's countenance.

"You don't believe me?" Shen asked.

"No- its..." Akali shook her head. "I just don't feel like I'll ever live up to that. Sorry."

"'Kali..."Kona started, trying to put a hand on her shoulder, but Akali lightly brushed it off.

"Sorry, Kona." Akali put up her best smile, though it felt as forced as it probably looked. "I didn't mean to be so dramatic."

"You're wrong." Shen cut in.

The two girls turned to look at Shen. The boy's face was as stony and impassive as ever. But there was more color to his voice. "About never living up to our duty. You're wrong about that."

Was that Shen trying to be supportive? Huh.

"That's nice of you to say." Akali replied, with an unexpected coolness to her voice.

"It's the truth." He stated flatly. Akali's mouth twitched.

There was just... something in his certainty pissed her off. She and Shen had spoken maybe less than five sentences between each other before today. How was he so sure?

She clenched her hand.

"And what do you know?!"Akali shouted, the wind rising with her temper. The sharp gale nearly snatched away her words, but she continued on her rant. "You're amazing! You're incredible! You're the goddamned best in our class and everything that our order deserves!" The tears were clouding her eyes now. They pooled and ran down her face in thin lines. "And I'm NOTHING! I'm a failure to my mother, my order, and myself! SO THE HELL THAT'S THE TRUTH!"

Akali's chest heaved, her breath billowing out in front of her in the cold. The frigid air was starting to cool her hot head, and she blinked a bit in surprise. Did... did she really just say that? To Shen?

Oh, shit.

"I..." Akali could only turn her face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Shen. You didn't deserve that."

She expected Shen to say something. Or maybe even to react emotionally. Or worst of all, turn and say nothing. But instead, he folded his arms, and spoke:

"The last sparring match you had with Haine... It was eight days ago. She used her weight and her strength over you to pin you to the floor." Shen tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "If that had been a real battle, you would have won. Your hands were pinned near her face. I saw you could have attacked her eyes, but you didn't."

Akali stopped. It took her a second to recognize the She-Ogre's real name.  
>"I... It's against sparring rules." Not that the She-Ogre ever followed sparring customs. The bitch would have torn Akali's eyes out if she gave her so much as a half a chance in the dojo. "Wait, you saw that?"<p>

"You were on a three-match winning streak and until then and currently hold a seventy-eight per cent win record against Haine and her friends. Haine had told her friends the week before to throw their matches for the purposes of inflicting more lasting injuries to you. She covered her voice and tried to hide it, but I heard." Shen lifted his head a bit. "And still in each one, you fought to the very end."

"I..."Akali stood, dumbfounded.

She was so shocked, that she didn't even hear the screams of their Chu'nin handlers to get a fucking move on. A Chu'nin was already marching up the snowy bluff to them with murder in her eyes. "You noticed?"

"I see everything." Shen stated flatly. Akali thought for an insane moment, there was the beginnings of a smile on his face. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

Instead, the stoic boy continued. "And from what I see, you're largely proficient in hand-to-hand combat, top three of our class in stealth, and upper percentile in stamina exercises. Am I wrong?" He stepped forwards, just as the Chu'nin advanced, screaming obscenities. He gave Akali a single pat on the shoulder. "You are not nothing."

And then, they were swept away by the angry words and threats of their 'parents'. Far away to the festive village below.

* * *

><p>It was dinnertime, but the inn was dark and quiet. Only the sound of the kitchen's staff working downstairs could be heard; for the inn had been completely reserved by a single man, and on the eve of the Lunar Revel, no less! The protests of the innkeeper had been cut sort by a shower of silver taels, followed by silent acquiescence, and a curt command to his son to immediately expel and refund all of their current guests. Now, the entire inn's staff was either cooking, cleaning, or running to larger restaurants to order from what they could not handle alone, for they had to provide enough food for an army. In a sense, they were. But there was only one man eating right now.<p>

He was alone, cloaked in red.

The Blood Moon Elder sat alone at his personal table, quietly drinking wine. Two dozen men lined the walls of the small inn, wearing similar red robes, and white-faced demon masks made of carved ivory.

He did not look the part of a traditional Martial Sect's headmaster. Under the Blood Moon Elder's hood was a relatively young face. He lacked the snowy hair or the shriveled skin that many of his fellow Sect Leaders shared in the _Wulin_, but his aura commanded respect, and when he spoke he had the look of royalty. Barely fifty years of age, the ambitious Blood Moon Elder had established the fastest growing martial arts sect in the Central Plains, despite the Wudang's righteous hegemony over the area. Barely fifty years of age, and the Blood Moon Elder was ready to step into his destiny as the man who would shape Ionia's _Wulin_ for centuries to come.

Shueto and Shuezi were kneeling with their heads bowed, their red robes clashing horribly with the dark oaken floor. The smell of food hung heavy in the air. Something else hung heavy in the air. It was fear. The sibling assassins' fear. The Blood Moon Elder's rule commanded devotion and terror in equal parts to cultivate unbending, unyielding discipline from his soldiers.

The two paid their respects to the one spoke of only in whispers in the _Wulin_ as the Red Traveler, the Mountain Dragon, and the Glaive Devil. His hood shrouded his face in shadow, revealing only a honest, satisfied smile at the quality of the inn's food and the taste of his wine. At his side, a bejeweled sheath housed a massive blade with an equally massive handle, making the weapon almost a spear- his bloody Great Blade.

"Master-" Shueto started, but the man held up his hand, and the assassin shut up immediately.

The Blood Moon Elder raised a thin cup to his lips, tipping the wine into his mouth.

"Waiter," The Blood Moon Elder called, and a thin, scrawny, terrified-looking man-boy practically came sprinting forwards, pushing past the wall of masked guards to get to his customer, apologizing profusely all the while.

The Elder spoke, and held out his cup.

"More wine."

The wine jug shook violently in the hands of the waiter as he ran back to retrieve the vintage and shuffled forwards to serve. The idiotic boy was drying his sweaty palms on his apron practically with every step.

Shueto eyed the waiter's clumsiness with grim-faced suspicion.

The waiter, sweating bullets, held out the wine jug to pour-

KLICK! KING!

–and accidentally knocked into the Blood Moon Elder's cup, soaking the Blood Moon Elder's outstretched arm.

"I—I'm sorry!" The waiter yelped as if he had been cut, and frantically set down the wine jug to mop up the split wine with his filthy sleeve.

The Blood Moon Elder smiled a bit, and Shueto exhaled.

"It's not a problem..." The sect leader said, but a motion to his left caused him to fall silent.

Shueto rose to his feet behind the waiter man-boy, his eyes furious. He bore down on the waiter, who fearfully stared right back up at the red man. The scrawny boy's lip quivered, shuffling his faint mustachio in an obscene manner. Shueto felt the blood-lust rise in him with every second of looking at the ridiculous boy. Every little thing about him was a grievous offense to their Blood Moon Elder. And that made the Blood Moon assassin want to kill the little shit- so much.

"Look away, kid." Shueto said, his face totally shrouded in the shadow of his hat. He raised his hand, and flexed it. "You don't want to see this coming."

* * *

><p>"Holy Master." Shueto said, kneeling once he was finished. "Forgive my rudeness. I acted without your leave."The Blood Moon Elder smiled a bit, exasperated. He picked up some troublesome disciples those many long, snowy years ago. The Blood Moon Elder reached down, and patted Shueto on the shoulder. The grown man, a veteran assassin and a master of the Blood Moon martial arts, flinched at the touch.<p>

"It's alright, Little Tao. I know you had only the best intentions at heart."

The Elder glanced at the thing on the ground that once was the waiter. "My best intentions, at least. But I wonder..." The Blood Moon Elder glanced at his cup. It was bone dry. "Who's going to pour my wine now?"

"Master, I can ask for another waiter-"

"I don't want another waiter, Little Tao."

Shueto looked up, and slowly realized what it is the Elder wanted him to do. The assassin rose to his feet, and dutifully picked up the wine jug, and refilled the Blood Moon Elder's cup. The Elder nodded, then brought the wine cup to his lips once more, draining the small plate.

Shueto shuffled forwards to offer some more wine, but the Blood Blade Elder shook his head. Instead, the sect leader rose.

"That's enough wine for now." The Elder started to walk back to his quarters. Offhand, he mentioned to his guards: "Clean this up." As he commanded, his guards obeyed, leaping forwards and getting hard to work at erasing any trace of the young waiter who once was. Shueto and Shuezi got up, following the Blood Moon Elder closely.

"Master- we were not expecting you here so soon-" Shueto started.

"I acted immediately on your information, First Disciple." The Blood Moon Elder passed through his rather modest quarters, and onto the open balcony. As he pushed the doors open, a nighttime gale tumbled through, flowing around the three red-clad warriors. The stiff, cool wind felt good on the Elder's warm face. Just a few feet below, the last of the street vendors were still peddling their wares to the steady trickle of night-bound pilgrims streaming in through the darkness. "I had the entire Blood Moon Sect depart as soon as we got your messenger pigeon. Is that a problem?"

"No, Master." Shueto bent his head in apology."I only wish that when you arrived I could have greeted you properly- with the Warrior Saint Codex."

"You are too thoughtful, Little Tao."The Blood Moon Elder lightly chided. A thin smile reached the Elder's lips once more."If I didn't know you so well, I'd say you were trying to seize the Warrior Saint Codex's power for yourself."

"M-Master! I would never!"

At this, the Blood Moon Elder opened his mouth and fully laughed into the night.

"Only teasing, Little Tao." The Blood Moon Elder turned to look at Shuezi. The young woman curiously cocked her head in response. He raised a hand under her chin , and tilted her head up."Little Tse, still lovely as ever."At this, Shuezi nodded a little, smiling and blushing.

"Master..."Shueto pressed, his lips still pursed in apprehension. "Why are you here, in truth? You know our strength. You know the Kinkou can pose no threat to us."

The Blood Moon Elder turned to glance at Shueto. He lowered his hand from Shuezi's chin.

"I have heard rumors of the appearance of... an old friend, you could say. "

"An ally, Holy Master?"

"Once." The Blood Moon Elder frowned underneath his hood. "Now he is most certainly an obstacle."

"Just give us a name, Holy Master." Shueto placed a meaningful hand over the coffin chained to his hips. "And our 'hungry dragons' will devour him alive under the Blood Moon."

"You two cannot defeat him, Little Tao. "The Blood Moon Elder rubbed his chin thoughtfully, gazing down at the commoners below, hard at work. "He once was my equal. Perhaps he still is."

At this, Shueto raised his head a fraction of an inch. The assassin's eyes took on a new light of interest from under his woven bamboo hat.

"Who is this great warrior, Master?"

Shueto's mouth hardly moved as he spoke. But a cold smile was starting to spread across his face. Shuezi looked down at her brother's smile and silently mirrored it. The two siblings savored the chance to cut out the blood of a worthy foe. The stronger the blood, the more delicious its color when split. "To be praised even by you- I'd like to greet his strength properly."

At this the Blood Moon Elder turned to the kneeling Shueto, what smile there was, gone. When he spoke, all the warmth in his voice had vanished like dust in the wind.

"So you two still think of this power struggle over the _Wulin_ as some sort of game?"

Shueto frowned. The assassin opened his mouth and spoke:

"I- Master-"

The sect leader took a deep breath. He bent his head forwards until his entire face was shrouded in the shadow of his hood. From deep inside, red eyes could be seen, burning like coals in the darkness.

And then a demonic voice came crawling out of the man's throat.

Aloft the song of the voice of the Blood Moon followed a torrent of hellish chi.

_Haaa... _

The Blood Moon Elder 'sung', his lips parting to reveal teeth that gleamed like white fangs. An east wind started to pick up along the balcony, and with it, the soft scent of evil. That soft scent rapidly morped into the crushing weight of pure evil.

The night street down below was utter chaos.

Pack animals brayed, hawed and went wild, trying to kick and flail their way out of their restraints. A great cloud of birds shot upwards into the evening sky, showering the street below in shed feathers. Dogs barked and whined, infant babes screamed hysterically, and the weakest and oldest of the pilgrims below fell to the ground, groaning in pain and clutching their chests; their confused offspring rushing to their side. Vendors below ran about screaming in terror as every standing piece of ceramic and glass cracked or exploded from the force of the Blood Moon Elder's unholy chi.

_HAAA..._

"...M-master...!" Shueto whispered as best he could under the weight of the Elder's oppressive chi. Shuezi's mouth was open, and she wordlessly screamed. "Please! STOP!"

The Blood Moon Elder stopped singing, and the divine voice from inside of the man ceased. But in the wake of silence, the cries and sobs of suffering and pain floated upwards from the street below. The Bloon Moon Elder turned to look at the siblings.

"Scared, my Children of the Blood Moon?" He glanced upwards at Shuezi, who was cupping her hands over her ears. Tears streamed down her face. He frowned. "You don't look so pretty anymore, Little Tse."

The two were cowering in the farthest corner of the balcony away from the Blood Moon Elder, shaking. Shueto in particular was in a cold sweat, having leaped to the ceiling corner and perched himself there, clutching at the walls like a gecko, Shuezi softly crying at his back behind him.

"I have told you that this man's power is nearly my equal. Therefore you will avoid him at all costs. You cannot defeat him and I will not have you jeopardize my mission."

The Blood Moon Elder walked forwards, advancing upon his disrespectful disciples. Reaching up, he put a cold, thin hand over Shueto's head, patting him through his hat. Shueto didn't flinch this time. He didn't even move. The terrified man scarcely dared to breathe.

"Only one thing matters right now, and that is the Warrior Saint Codex. When the Blood Moon comes, you will seize it from the Kinkou and ignore all else." The Elder's red eyes gleamed from underneath his scarlet hood. As he spoke, a man's mournful scream could be heard from the adjacent room to them. So the innkeeper, perhaps drawn upstairs by the commotion the Blood Moon Elder caused, had stumbled upon the bloody clean-up of his idiot son. There followed the sounds of struggle, presumably his guards restraining the innkeeper for the Elder's judgment. He would have to be dealt with.

"Who.." Shueto wrestled with his words, speaking softly between ragged breaths. "Who is this man, master? T-that we may elude him..." The man was terrified of sounding defiant. "We need to know who he is."

The Blood Moon Elder coldly regarded his First Disciple, before tilting his head up.

"He will look like a monk. An ascetic, perhaps. A few years my elder, and with a Shojin tattoo on his left breast that has been carved at. "

A shrill scream came from inside the inn. The Blood Moon Elder turned to look at the adjacent room, slightly annoyed.

"Go now." The Blood Moon Elder ordered, and his two assassins obeyed, first falling to the floor, and then kneeling respectfully. Shueto and Shuezi then disappeared off into the night.

And do not fail me, the Elder's blood-red eyes said.

* * *

><p>They were standing under falling snow, looking outwards, drawn to a higher vantage point by the sudden sensation of powerful evil.<p>

"Akase." Master Khen greeted. "You felt that too?"

The two Kinkou Triumvirate stood solemnly at one of Ing'Xao village's many snowy tiled roofs. They stood staring out at a faraway spot on the other side of the village, where they had felt that unknown power rise in the West and rear its head. Even now, though the force had faded, the memory of that wave of evil chi hung heavily over their heads like a dark sun.

Akasou wordlessly raised her head at Khen's side, her face even grimmer than usual. Her cool black eyes carefully regarded the Kinkou headmaster.

"Scared, Khen?"

"Of course." Master Khen replied. "We cannot fail. And against power like that..." Khen sighed. "We are old, Akase. I fear we may not grow older."

Akasou said nothing. She only turned her head to stare back at where they had felt that dark chi.

Despite everything, Master Khen gave a soft smile."No supportive quip, Akase? No 'We won't fail'? 'We'll get through this together'?" Khen laughed a bit to himself. Twenty years had passed, but Akasou always seemed to resist change, physically and mentally. She was like a rock in a flowing stream. "That's rather like you."

"It is very like me, Khen." Akasou said, her voice frigid. "That's why you chose Su-Ling, isn't it?"  
>Khen's smile vanished at the mention Shen's late mother.<p>

"Don't give me that attitude, Akase." The Kinkou headmaster turned somberly back towards the source of the chi. He chewed at his frost-touched lips, trying to choose his next words as carefully as possible. "...Don't act like Su-Ling wasn't your friend."

"She was a kind person. I couldn't compete."

"When she was alive she loved you like a sister. And once she was in your life, you loved her too." Khen sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "You knew that was the kind of person she was. She was never your enemy."

"I honor your late wife in my own way, Khen." Akasou stated flatly. "Just leave it at that." The look she was giving suggested that really was the end of the conversation. It was the angle of the frown of her mouth and the extra layer of coldness deep within Akasou's eyes.

Khen took a step towards Akasou. A single step in the face of the thousand-mile gulf between the two. Perhaps the aged man was on the cusp of saying something- but the cold, awkward silence between the two lifelong comrades seemed to keep him at bay. Instead, he turned back and crouched down, surveying the street below. He made a motion as if to leap off- but right before- he looked up at Akasou.

"I trust you, Akase."

The Kinkou Headmaster then disappeared below the snowy rooftop.

"I know," Akasou replied, alone. She turned back towards the West. Even from beyond the grave, so many years after her death, that country hick was messing with people's lives. She really was terrifying, Akasou realized.

"Sorry, Su-Ling."


	5. Writ of Heaven, Vortex of Shadow

"Is this the last group?"

"Yes, Master. The Xiao'nin will be arriving shortly."

"As soon as the Xiao'nin are finished, clear the temple for the Warrior Saint Codex. The Binding Ceremony will take all day."

"Yes, Master."

"They will attack. Be ready."

"Yes... Master."

* * *

><p>The scent of incense hung heavy in the air. From beyond the temple doors there arose the sound of many pilgrims complaining, for the Kinkou were barring the way into the shrine for all pilgrims, leaving the Warrior Saint's Gate utterly empty except for their small class of maybe thirty Xiao'nin, and nearly twice as many Dai'nin scattered through various posts of the temple, watching over every inch of the temple, silent behind their silk masks.<p>

For a holy site designated by the Warrior Saint himself, the temple was sparsely adorned. Inside there was only a painted fresco mounted upon a bamboo frame, a small altar to the Warrior Saint, and a golden idol dedicated to his honor. From above, a light snowfall drifted in through the oculus cut into the roof of the pagoda, falling only to melt away by the heat of a brazier lit underneath.

The structure was a dark, dusty pagoda that rose several stories above the wooden edifices of the surrounding Ing'Xao village, and it was the Warrior Saint's shrine that the Kinkou devoted an entire pilgrimage to, as to offer prayers to the deity who founded the religious ideals of Balance and Harmony in Ionia four hundred years ago. Supposedly, it was here that the Warrior Saint had first rested during the twilight years of defending the island from the forces of the Rune Wars, and it was here that the Warrior Saint had consecrated a sanctuary from the horrors of war.

Akali had been placed far back in the line. She knelt, her head bowed. As the shrine's idol was rather small, the Xiao'nin were to travel up in pairs in order to deliver their prayers and well-wishes for the Lunar New Year. Inside of her own prayer charm was some nonsense that she had absently scribbled.

"First group," Master Khen announced. It was the first time that Akali had seen the Kinkou headmaster since they landed upon the Ionia mainland, and she scarcely recognized him. His eyes were shaded, his hair was flecked with white, his face was dark and grim and Akali could see the beginnings of stubble running along the man's chin. He was shadowed by two of his personal Shadow Guard, who stood equally as grim in the darkness of the temple. With their wide hats, their grim demeanor and their silk masks they looked more like executioners than guards.

"Kona and Touya."

Akali watched Kona shuffle up the thin worn carpet from the back, flanked by a rather tall classmate that Akali recognized by face, but not by name. Kona smiled at the boy, and he seemed to look away in embarrassment.

The two first knelt on both knees at the feet of the idol, their hands clasped about their prayer charms, and their eyes closed in devotion. After a few seconds of silent reflection, Kona and the Xiao'nin got up, deposited their prayer charms into the large bronze pot set in front of the idol, and then retreated to the side of the temple to await the rest of their class.

Kona, Akali duly noted, had busily chatted up that Xiao'nin with enthusiasm as they moved to the temple's flank. So Kona could be friendly with the others in their class, Akali realized, she just chose not to. The young ninja sighed, but smiled upon reflecting further. She was lucky to have Kona as a friend.

"Ruli and Yan." Master Khen called.

And so it went on. Two by two, the Xiao'nin rose, marched and knelt to offer their prayers.

A few rounds after was Shen. The stoic boy marched evenly up to the shrine and offered his prayer. He didn't even glance at the She-Ogre who marched right by his side, though the bitch was desperately trying to get his attention with her smiles and her obvious bumps into him. The She-Ogre nearly threw her prayer charm into the pot when she noticed that Shen had got up and left while she had closed her eyes and pretended to pray.

The She-Ogre's furious eyes met Akali's for an instant. Akali smiled. The huge girl gave a sort of lurching spasm, like she had to remember to restrain herself from jumping on Akali and murdering her in front of Master Khen.

And then it was her turn next.

"Seto and Akali." Master Khen called.

Ugh.

So it was Seto- or 'Zed' as the fucker liked to call himself.

She hated Zed.

Akali glanced to her side and glimpsed the bored-looking boy that was standing slouched against one of the shrine's pillars. Well over six-feet, Zed could easily pass for a full grown man. The hulking boy strode up to the carpet, his prayer charm dangling by a loop over his finger. He couldn't have looked more disinterested if he tried.

Akali strode right to his side without making eye contact. The top of her head barely came to his shoulders.

"Hiya, 'Seto'" Akali mumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

The boy's mouth twitched. Zed leaned in to his side, his eyes growing dangerous.

"You know it's Zed."

"How pointless. They practically sound the same."

A sharp, curt command from their headmaster cut through their banter. The two turned back, facing forwards.

"Seto and Akali. Move up."

The two Xiao'nin marched forwards, then dropped to their knees to offer their prayers. Akali caught a glimpse of Zed's reflection in the gold of the Warrior Saint's idol, and it only reaffirmed her disgust for the boy at her side.

Zed had his own emotionless mask of a face on, just like Shen did. But while Shen made her feel like she was merely being watched all the time, Zed's facade made her feel as if he was doing more than that—like he always guarding some dark and cruel secret from everyone else.

Zed's watchful eyes caught her looking at him through the reflection of the idol, and Akali quickly turned away in revulsion. She couldn't stand the look in Zed's eyes. His face took on the ghost of a grin.

The huge boy glanced meaningfully back at Shen, who was patiently waiting by the side.

"So- you still think you have a chance with Shen." Zed murmured, just low enough for Akali to hear.

"Jealous?" Akali whispered back.

"Oh?" Zed interrogated mercilessly. His eyes swiveled to stare at her prone form."So you don't even deny it. Good that you're honest." A disgusting chuckle floated out from Zed. "Yet it's wasted on the likes of Shen."

"There's an idol in front of you, Zed. Go fuck yourself with it."

He continued to stare at Akali. His face was impassive, but he may as well be cackling and evily rubbing his hands together as far as emotions went for Zed. The towering boy seemed to loom over her, hulking over Akali's diminutive frame.

"He is son of our headmaster; heir to our vainglorious Kinkou." A cold smile spread across Zed's lips this time. It looked obscene. "You know there's no room in his life… for you."

"Shut up, Zed."

Akali would burn in Hell before she would admit it, but each of Zed's words were like a dagger of ice to her heart. And the cruel boy was absolutely the type to twist that dagger in the flesh. His eyes glinted with mixed tones of contempt and amusement as he stared down the kneeling Akali next to him.

"Shen might as well be an eunuch to you as far as he is concerned. And you wish to become the Pruner of the Tree by his side—for him?"

Zed opened his slit of a mouth a bit, full of teeth, though Akali saw only fangs. Another lurching, gross chuckle came crawling out of Zed's throat. "Think that's the closest you'll ever be to being his wife? How sweet, hua ha ha."

Akali took a sharp, deep breath at Zed's taunts, not looking away from the idol of the Warrior Saint before them. Her fingers, though still threaded together in prayer, twitched dangerously. Undeterred, Zed leaned in closer.

"Do you dream of holding him close and bearing his children?"  
>"Shut up!" Akali nearly yelled, her words hissing out of her clenched teeth. She closed her eyes and held her head up higher. "Who the hell asked you?"<p>

"No one but my good conscience." Zed quipped, returned back to the idol, and inclined his head, before getting up to rise. "See, I'd feel _terrible _if you were to be hurt- any more than you already have been."

Just before he stood, he leaned into Akali's side, whispering in her ear. She could feel his disgusting breath on her neck. "Because fair warning, I'll be the one to defeat Shen in the end. Will you stay by his broken, beaten side then? Or will you coming running to my bed next?"

At this, Akali finally lost her temper, and lashed out at the boy with an incredibly swift strike of her fingers that would have put a lesser warrior's eyes out. But Zed was expecting the attack. Moving with surprising speed, the enormous boy casually leaned back and let the blow whiff past him harmlessly. But this assault was not lost on their Headmaster.

"Akali! Seto!" Master Khen barked, marching over from the back of the line. "What's the problem here?"

Zed glanced down at the still-kneeling Akali, and then back up to Master Khen. She didn't dare meet his gaze. Instead, she simply stared furiously at the ground.

"Nothing, Master. It was just a fly on my face." Zed had out his emotionless face back on. Now he was no longer overtly cruel or dark- just cold like ice. But she could still feel his presence; his cruelty like a snake coiling around her neck. "Little Akali got it off for me."

It was clear Master Khen didn't believe a word of it, but with nothing more to go on, he simply sighed.

"Then move on, children. Many more of your peers have their prayers to offer-"

But before Master Khen could call forwards the next pair of Xiao'nin, a shout arose from the front of the temple entrance. The sounds of shouting and cursing could be heard from the crowd of angry pilgrims outside. And then, the voice of a man.

"What is this outrage?!" A booming voice cut in over the crowd, followed by a red-faced man that stood a good head above the pilgrims in front of him. He had the robes of a local martial arts master, and was followed by what looked like to be every one of his students, all carrying weapons. "Get out of my face, lackeys!" The schoolmaster yelled, "Go get your master!"

Instantly, every single Dai'nin in the Temple drew their weapons. Two Dai'nin immediately flew to the edges of the door frame above, ready to fall upon and ambush any intruder. Steel gleaming silver shone in the firelight as each of the elite ninja leveled their swords. Akali had nearly fell over as the Dai'nin closest to her drew his sword faster than she could blink.

Shocked, the Xiao'nin clustered together, surrounded by naked steel and silent aggression.

"Sheathe your swords, NOW!" Master Khen barked at his Dai'nin, and his lieutenant glanced at him. The Dai'nin hesitated only for a second, the faintest of heart looking among themselves, before they returned their swords to their sheathes. Still, their hands stayed upon their blades.

"I will handle this." Master Khen marched to the front of the temple, his face stony and grim. "Sao, end the prayers early, and get them out of Ing'Xao."

From the back of the temple, Akali could see a man wearing a Lion's mane of hair push the last of the pilgrims out of his way, growling each time a dirty commoner brushed up against his colorful robes. The sash over the man's chest marked him as the local master of the widespread and popular Suburi style martial arts. He must have been angry to find the Warrior Saint's Gate closed off to his own disciples when he arrived.

Master Khen arrived at the temple's entrance, intent on mediating a solution, instead was met with a storm of curses and insults from the schoolmaster.

A curt bark erupted from Lieutenant Sao.

"No more prayers, kids." Lieutenant Sao said, despite the looks of confusion from the Xiao'nin who had not yet gone up to the shrine. "Return to your '_Spider's Web' _teams and follow the out of the village." Lieutenant Sao tilted his head to the slightest. "Chu'nin!" The man ordered, referring to the ninja that had been assigned to protect them. "Escort our students out of the village, now!"

Their Chu'nin handlers advanced from their hiding place in the shadows, herding the Xiao'nin that had been assigned to them like sheep.

Through the confusion, Kona pushed through and found Akali.

"Kona!" Akali called. They clasped hands.

"I've got a bad feeling about all of this, Akali." Kona hugged her friend. "Just like... we should get out of here, fast."

"How? The Dai'nin are everywhere."

Kona frowned, and put a hand to her chin. Looking up, she smiled a little. Reaching up, she cupped a hand to Akali's ear, and whispered.

"Get Shen...?" Akali frowned. "What for?"

* * *

><p>The shouting from the angry schoolmaster at the front of the temple reached a crescendo. The huge man was nearly spitting in Master Khen's face. A few more words, and the schoolmaster grinned, as if he had won some sort of argument, as Master Khen stood still as a statue, implacable through the storm.<p>

The schoolmaster opened his mouth and said only a few words, and raised a fist the size of a bucket.

There was only a blur from Master Khen.

And then, the man's face seemed to bulge outwards; he collapsed, falling to a knee. The schoolmaster groaned and vomited clear spit. At this, the schoolmaster's disciples rushed forwards to help their teacher, but the Dai'nin to either side of Khen struck them down with swift strikes over their heads with sheathed swords, sending the disciples sprawling back, crying and clutching their heads.

Master Khen withdrew his hand, flexing it. In an instant, every Dai'nin within the temple flew to the entrance, just as the schoolmaster's disciples started flooding forwards, enraged by the attack upon their master. A small-scale riot erupted in front of the temple, with the disciples attacking with their swords and spears, and the Kinkou Dai'nin beating them back with the scabbards over their swords.

* * *

><p>From above, Akali could see scraps of the man's robe clinging to Master Khen's fingers. Did he really hit the schoolmaster? She didn't even see the blow.<p>

"Never mention my wife again," Akali read off of Master Khen's lips.

"Akali!" Kona hissed, pulling at a protesting Shen. "Let's go!"

At Kona's bidding, Akali slipped through the open-air window of the temple.

* * *

><p>Down below in the midst of the melee, Master Khen picked the schoolmaster up, and threw him backwards into the crowd to general commotion. The flow of disciples retreated as many ran to their schoolmaster's aid. Master Khen, after calling his Dai'nin back into the temple, shut the temple doors himself and barred them. The Headmaster marched back to the center of the temple, followed by his Dai'nin, his eyes blazing and the force of his anger coloring and edging his chi.<p>

"...Master?" Lieutenant Sao asked, slightly shocked. "Are you alright?"

"Have the Xiao'nin leave through the back gate, and get them out of Ing'Xao."

"Yes, master."

Master Khen's eyes calmed, and he sighed. He turned to the terrified-looking Xiao'nin, and smiled in apology. It came out more like a grimace in the harsh light.  
>"Forgive me, children. That was not becoming of an Eye of the Twilight." The Kinkou Headmaster opened his eyes. "Everything will be alright. Just follow your Chu'nin escorts and-"<p>

Master Khen suddenly stopped cold. He scanned the faces of the Xiao'nin, searching. Then, he looked upwards at all of his Dai'nin, circled around him, their weapons still loose in their sheathes, all watching Master Khen intently.

The Headmaster Kinkou put two and two together.

And then he swore for the first time in fifteen years, as soon as he realized that his only son and Akasou's only daughter had slipped out of the temple while everyone had been distracted.

* * *

><p>Even an elite ninja couldn't track them through the confusion of the Lunar Festival. And they were loving it. Kona, leading Akali by the hand, who was dragging Shen, laughed as they melted into the commotion of the festivities below. The trio crossed over a rickety fish market, ducked into a grand looking tent selling festival clothes to traveling pilgrims. After a few minutes of hunting, the three emerged clothed in disguise.<p>

Kona stood, hands at her hips, sporting bright pink robes spotted with silver clouds and a blue headscarf. She turned her head and smiled.

"What do you think?"  
>"You look like someone took the God of Paints and beat him to death over your clothes."<p>

"At least I don't dress like I panhandle for a living." Kona said, pulling up at Akali's mosaic, earthen-colored dress.

Shen turned his hat over in his hands, looking at it curiously. The boy frowned.

"I... don't think this is in my size-"

"OH SHIT!" Kona yelled, cutting him off and pointing dramatically at a nearby, empty roof. "IT'S YOUR MOM, AKALI! RUN, BITCH, RUN!"

"Noooooo!" Akali laughed and pushed at Shen. The tall boy uncomfortably stumbled along. "Runrunrun! Get out of my way, Shen!"

"Hey! _Pok'gai!_" A large old lady ran out of her clothing tent huffing and puffing. Akali assumed to be that was the clothes shop owner. Oops. They didn't pay for the clothes. She was followed by an enormous bald man who looked to be her son, gripping a thick wooden bat with the kind of ease that suggested a lot of practice. "Brats!" The shopkeeper screamed, waving a heavy stick used for measuring silk. "Thieves!"

"Oh." Kona turned, and starting pushing Shen too. "Seriously though, let's run."

"Sorry!" Akali yelled while running and used her extensive ninja skills to throw probably way too much money right into the giant man's face, each of the copper coins making an audible _dink-dink-dink _as they collided with the man's skull. The giant man fell backwards as if he had been shot, his wooden bat went flying and Akali could have sworn the ground shook when he hit the snow.

"Agggh-haaagh!" The man growled, flailing in the snow and pawing at his face as his mother ran to help him up. "She killed me!" The enormous man wailed pitifully. (she didn't) "She killed me!"

"...Oops." Akali said, holding her hand to her mouth.

"Nice shot!" Kona yelled.

And then the three disappeared into the stunned crowd once more. Running from the angery man and his mom out for blood, running from Akali's imaginary mother who according to Kona's pranks seemed to appear upon every rooftop imaginable, sometimes two at once, and running just for the joy of running. They stopped as soon as they felt they were in the clear, the girls laughing as they put their hands on their knees.

Kona put both of her hands up, and Akali gave her a double high-five, to the curious looks of the flowing crowd around them.

"SAFE!" They said to each other, and then doubled over again, laughing.

Meanwhile, Shen stood there, dumbfounded, as if he'd never had to wrest with the concept of free time in his life. Perhaps he hadn't.

"What..." Shen said, uncertain, which was a rare emotion for him. "What do we do?"

"Now..." Kona said, turning to Shen, smiling. The skinny girl punched Shen lightly in the shoulder. "We show you how to have fun, Shenny."

* * *

><p>Akasou wouldn't look at him. And he knew why. He deserved it.<p>

"Akase..." Master Khen started, but Akasou turned her head away.

"Three children, Khen." Akasou blinked as she watched over the Dai'nin who were busy at work setting the temple up for the Binding Ritual. "Three children made a fool of you when it mattered the most."

Lieutenant Sao directed the work, instructing the placement of some mahogany totems here, or a Tai Chi array along this stretch of floor here, while consulting a weathered manual said to be a relic from the Warrior Saint himself. At his bidding the Dai'nin swarmed, working feverishly to set up the Binding Ceremony in time. Every second counted.

"I have nothing to say, Akase."

"Then get out of my way and let me fix this."

"I cannot." Akasou wanted to send every single Dai'nin out to comb Ing'Xao village as soon as she heard of her daughter's disappearance, but he had vetoed it. He could tell Akasou was not thinking straight. Akasou nearly ran out to track down her daughter by herself until he threatened to keep her here by force. The enemy could strike at anytime- Master Khen could not afford to lose his most trusted comrade when the danger was so close.

"I have sent Chu'nin out after them, and-"

"Worthless Chu'nin. You know they won't find them in time."

"We cannot spare any more." Khen sighed. "I'm sorry, Akasou."

"Save your useless apologies and shove it."

Akasou looked upwards, and leaped to the second-story floor in a single bound. She did so as easily as if she was jumping onto a footstool.

"Akase," Master Khen stepped forwards. He put an uncomfortable hand over the handle one of his twin swords. He hated threatening Akasou like this. He never wanted to do this to her. "Please- I need you here. You cannot leave."

The Pruner of the Sacred Tree didn't look downwards.

"I'm just going up to keep a lookout." Akasou took another leap, reaching the third and final story. "If I'm lucky I will spot my brat of a daughter running around with your son." And with that, Akasou disappeared into the oculus of the roof.

Master Khen sighed.

He turned back to the work below in the Warrior Saint's temple. He still had a lot of work to do.

* * *

><p>The Blood Moon is so bright before my bed<p>

床前血月光

That the ground seems frosted instead  
>疑是地上霜<p>

I raise my head to gaze at the moon so bright  
>舉頭望明月<p>

I lower my head in the thoughts of my home tonight

低頭思故鄉

* * *

><p>It was nighttime. Lunar Revellers turned to the rising moon, and delighted when they sighted upon one of the rarest sights that anyone could ever see- a Blood Moon. Instead of the pure white of the sun, there shone over the Runeterran sky, a blood red moon.<p>

Down below, two parties looked up to the sky in wonder.

* * *

><p>The first, the ones who worshiped the power of the Blood Moon. They sat, mingling among the Lunar Revelers, garbed in garish red and donning ivory masks, they looked more like circus performers than a martial-art cult. Close by, two similarly garbed warriors awaited their sign to strike.<p>

The Blood Moon bloomed from behind the cloud cover, and Ing'Xao was suddenly bathed in bloodly moonlight.

Shueto, back down on terra, sat comfortably at a tea-shop, sipping at his drink, his coffin laying at rest by his side. It was only when he saw the red of the moon reflected in the water of his tea that he looked upwards the night sky, and found a bloody heaven.

"Look, Shuezi." Shueto murmured from under his hat, and Shuezi looked upwards at the first of the Blood Moon finally pushing its way past the night clouds of the dark sky. Below, the pilgrim commoners gave the sinister duo a wide berth, and though the tea-shop owner wrung his hands at the thought of all of the sales he was missing out on, he dared not disturb his strange customers from their place. They had the look of death about them.

Then, they rose. The man chained his coffin to his hips once more, and the women beckoned to him. It was time. The tea shop owner felt a jolt of relief as he watched Shueto and Shuezi leave, carrying their coffins at their hips, seeming to sway to and fro as if they had come to life.

* * *

><p>Those who feared the Blood Moon looked skyward as well, and the evil it would release if the Binding Ceremony did not run to its completion. Master Khen looked upwards, his arms crossed, his face shrouded in shadow. At his feet, a harmless looking, battered scroll with a seal of blood burned into its vellum bindings, sealing the secrets of the Warrior Saint Codex within it's grasp. A single page stood ripped open, torn apart by a previous rogue who desired the power within. It was because of that rogue that the Kinkou were forced to re-seal the Warrior Saint Codex once more.<p>

"Amitabhatosha..." Master Khen muttered under his breath in ancient Ionian. He chanted from a holy book of Sutras. "Amitabhatosha..." As he chanted, he broke holy Tears of the Gods, a rare white gem over five seals that had been drawn over the floor, reading Fire, Water, Gold, Wood and Earth. As he did, each of the characters glowed as if lit on fire, lighting lines between them until they formed a five-pointed star inscribed in a pentagram.

Under the light of the Blood Moon, the Seal that the Warrior Saint had created started to undo, the bloody seal burning away under the light from which it was first created.

A flash of light engulfed the battered scroll, bathing the temple in light.

And finally, the Warrior Saint Codex broke free- although it wasn't a single scroll any longer. There in the Warrior Saint Codex's place shone two scrolls- a scroll as white as snow known as the Writ of Heaven, and a black book scrawled with demonic cuneiform known as the Vortex of Devouring Shadows.

The Writ of Heaven- a martial arts manual said to be gifted from the Jade Emperor to the Warrior Saint himself, and across from it, the Vortex of Devouring Shadows, a wicked compendium of the dance of shadows and demons said to be written by indescribable evil. Under the Warrior Saint's bindings, the two legendary martial arts manuals would have struggled and balanced against each other- but now, any one, righteous or evil, angel or demon, could open those scrolls and plunder their secrets.

"Let's begin." Master Khen said, this time in modern Ionian. His Shadow Guard took their places, and started chanting ancient scripts, the same that the Warrior Saint first did nearly four hundred years ago, and the same that Master Khen did to undo the binding.

They began the Binding Ceremony once more.


	6. Reunion

The outside world was so colorful, so vibrant. The air seemed fresher, the foo d more delicious, the colors more beautiful in the light of Akali's small-won freedom. Life was so joyous, how could she have ever been so down on herself?

And yet Shen remained unmoved.

The anxiety gnawed its way into her gut once more. Shen, though stiff and awkward at first, had at least stopped protesting at every step that Akali and Kona had dragged him to. Yet despite the disappearance of Shen's reluctance, he still stood apart from the two girls, away from their festivities, distant.

She began to worry that Shen would hate her for this. As the trio weaved their way through the vibrant crowd of the Lunar Festival, Kona leading Akali who was tailed by Shen, she would glance from time to time at the stoic boy. No matter how boisterous the comedy nor how beautiful the dresses or how lively the song, Shen stood unmoved, like rock in a stream, as Kona and Akali had the best time of their lives around him.

Akali glanced at Shen's hand, hanging limp at the boy's side. Her eyes betrayed her, and they flickered up to the boy's lips. She felt a flush rise when Shen's ever-watchful eyes caught her looking at him, and she quickly turned away in embarrassment, suddenly extremely interested in a stall selling painted fans.

Once she felt she was in the clear once more, Akali turned again to glance at Shen. The boy had elected to stand apart, looking out into the crowd for whatever reasons he had.

If only she could just get closer to him...

"...Hey, that looks cool!"

Kona, her arms overflowing with an assortment of various snacks, sweets, and baubles she had picked up through the festivities, stopped in front of a battered sign hastily dug into the ground advertising the performance of a old, classic play known as _The Tale of Reina. _The first performance would be starting soon, the sign said, and already, curious patrons filled the open-air theater behind them. It seemed that a local circus group had rented out a small teahouse and were performing the known tale in honor of the Blood Moon, a rarity during Lunar Festival. They certainly spared no expense- a good dozen musicians waited at the flanks of a large tent-like amphitheater, the walls made of numerous posts in the ground with stretched cloth in between.

"Let's see it!" Kona said, hopping up and down. "Let's see it!" Kona said, her mouth full with dumplings and her slim finger pointing and waving at the battered sign.

"Kona..." Akali said, a little exasperated. She was dead tired from being dragged around by Kona all over the village, and the last thing she wanted to do was have to sit down for what she remembered to be a several hours-long play.

But... Akali turned to Shen. The boy seemed to show slight surprise at being deferred to, and merely shrugged.

"I'm fine with anything."

"Yay!" Kona unceremoniously dumped whatever food was left unfinished onto the ground, and then marched behind Shen and Akali, only to push the two into the open-air amphitheater with both hands.

As she did, she leaned in to give Akali a drunken smile.

"Don't think I forgot about you and your hubby... you stupid." Kona brought her mouth up to Akali's ear. "Love's in the air, 'Kali. When are ya gonna nab Shen?"

"Was there alcohol in those dumplings, Kona?"

Kona burped, blasting Akali with her breath and answering her question right then and there.

"O...only a little." Kona muttered. She wiped her mouth, pushing aside her makeup to reveal red-flushed flesh underneath. She reached up, and patted Akali on the side reassuringly. "I'm fine... I'm fine..."

Except she was patting a wooden post. Akali watched Kona fondle that splintery, dirty old wooden post with worry, as Kona muttered poetry to the oaken structure.

"Ok, I might need to hurl for a bit-" Kona admitted to the post and staggered off. "'Scuse me."

Akali watched her friend with a little concern, but then turned back to the amphitheater. At the very back of the row, Shen sat, staring blankly out at the ruckus about him with all the involvement of a block of stone.

He was just sitting there. Akali thought he looked kind of lonely.

She glanced back, watching Kona stumble into a public outhouse, and decided that her friend could handle herself for a few minutes.

Akali plopped herself right next to Shen, more boldly than she would usually dare. The boy looked up only once in greeting, then turned back to the still-empty stage. _The Tale of Reina_ still hadn't started yet, it seemed.

"Kona alright?" Shen asked mildly.

"She's pretty trashed... ahaha... " Akali replied, laughing a bit. She jerked her head in the direction of the nearby outhouse. " She's making out with a toilet right now. This whole festival thing is kind of a first for all of us."

Shen turned a little in surprise.

"Don't the Xiao'nin celebrate every year?"

"Well, yeah, but... it's usually not a lot more than just offering prayers. We had maybe a half hour of free time last year before we had to go back to our inn."

"...I didn't know." Shen admitted. "I just assumed that you guys did... this... every year while I trained."

There was something else in Shen's voice this time. Akali tilted her head a bit, leaning over to look at Shen. She must have eaten some sake dumplings too, since she was feeling... good right now.

"Shen..." A smile spread across Akali's face. "...are you _jealous_?"

Shen turned a bit. The smallest, tiniest of smiles could be seen at the corner of his lips, and Akali nearly fell in love with the boy all over again. She felt her breath catch in her throat once more.

"So this is a first for you guys, too..." Shen continued, ignoring Akali's jab. That semi-smile was still on his face, but now he took on a slight look of relief. "That makes me feel better. I was worried I was doing festivals wrong."

This felt so strange, Akali pondered, as she talked with Shen... not stiffly or robotically, but heart to heart like human beings. She glanced down at Shen's still idle hand.

If only she could work up the courage to take it...

Akali turned to see if Kona was coming back, but the entrance to the amphitheater was empty, and the seats around them nearly full. _The Tale of Reina_ sure seemed popular among this crowd.

She reached out...

Then a man, wearing a white ivory mask and garbed in scarlet-red robes cut through her thoughts to strode out onto the fire-lit stage, his half-mask revealing a young man's clean shaven face. As he did, he coaxed a vigorous round of applause from the expectant audience. The circus actor held his hand up for silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." The man held his hand out and upwards in offering. "...gaze upwards upon the rarest of sights during the Lunar Revel... the red rose in the heavens known as the Blood Moon!"

Before the crowd could respond or look upwards at the man's bidding, the actor drew his hand back downwards in dramatic fashion.

"By the Old Ways, the Blood Moon is a sacred night above all else. We dedicate this storied and classic tale to the beauty of the Blood Moon. Without further ado- let us begin."

At his command, a woman strode out, garbed in beautiful red, with the white mask of Reina, interpreted by this circus group in the face of a beautiful warrior-goddess. Her face was crowned with golden horns of light that represented her piety and purity.

She bowed in earnest respect for the audience before her.

A man followed her out as well, garbed in a deep, dark crimson red, with the white, twisted face of a demon god of death and condemnation.

The Demon bowed quickly and somewhat disprespectfully, before the actress and the actor took their places. Off-stage drums began to beat, the sound of a guqin floated over the amphitheater and the Demon began to chase Reina about the stage. Every time the Demon came close he reached out to playfully grab at her robes and horns with his black painted claws and every time the beautiful maiden pushed the Demon away, growing more and more distressed. Reina flew to one side of the stage, lifted in the air by wires dim in the low light and the Demon rested, temporarily withdrawn.

And then, the two began their dance, and the play began in earnest.

* * *

><p>She could feel the chi of the many and weak.<p>

Akasou opened her eyes, and saw.

They were here.

From far above, the Pruner of the Sacred Tree watched her enemies gather before her, like a hawk watching the wolves circle below.

Akasou could see them scurrying about far below her, garbed in their ridiculous red, scarcely bothering to conceal their weapons underneath their robes. They simply strolled up to the temple, casually surrounding the building with their numbers. Knowing that Akasou was watching them, and Akasou knowing that they knew. So supremely confident in their superiority that the enemy wouldn't even bother concealing themselves from her eyes... Akasou was looking forwards to punishing their arrogance.

And yet, with every glance at the enemy, who were steadily growing in number around the Warrior Saint's Shrine, Akasou allowed another nervous scan of the village for her daughter. Most of all, she prayed she wouldn't see her Akali here. Men were going to die, and blood was going to be split, and if she were to find her only daughter's lifeless body among the slain after the battle-

A sharp breath of the winter air, and she snuffed the horrid image out of her mind like she always did. Focus on the job, she told herself. Focus on the mission.

There was nothing to do but focus on the mission. It was how Akasou always dealt with her problems.

The stoic woman glanced back down, through the hole cut into the roof, at the glowing halves of the Warrior Saint Codex. She could see Master Khen's silhouette cut into the torrent of light from beneath, still chanting sutras as the Binding Ceremony continued. They were barely halfway done, and the enemy was already here.

Useless and futile, she pondered. The only way that this was ever going to end was to completely and utterly destroy the enemy. Just like the old days. She licked at her cracked, wind-worn lips.

A chilling touch rushed at her. She drew a sharp breath at the sensation, and then turned.

Something soft and evil was at her back, it felt like a whisper at the nape of her neck.

A sinister chi floated upwards, rising from the streets below, thick about her face like black smoke. It was different from the aura of the lackeys milling about. Something powerful was coming. Akasou turned to face the source of that chi. A man and a women, strolling casually towards the Warrior Saint's Temple, dressed in red robes. That dark and evil chi blossomed from them and on their backs, there were two coffins.

She fingered the edge of the chakram on her hips.

"Khen," She called.

Her stiff voice traveled far below down to the lowest level of the Warrior Saint's Shrine. From below Master Khen stopped chanting. He sighed in some slight defeat. The Kinkou Headmaster paused for a moment. Then, after what seemed like forever, he looked upwards with weary eyes. The light of the Binding Ceremony faded quickly into darkness, terminated early. His Dai'nin, their places in the Binding Ceremony now left forgotten, floated to his side, grim and with their deaths on their minds.

"Trouble." Akasou then turned and flew off of precipice of the Warrior Saint's Shrine to confront their red adversaries.

* * *

><p>She didn't think much of the play at first, but now she was enraptured. The beating of the drums, the shrill cry of the guqin, and the dramatic motions of the actors captured her imagination like nothing before.<p>

Every twist of Reina's feet, every snatch that the Demon attempted, left her breathless. She let out an audible gasp when the Demon tore at Reina's ivory mask, and red liquid split out of the actress's head. Her outburst garnered a quick look from Shen, and she blushed out of slight embarrassment.

"It's just prop blood," Shen reassured.

"I know that!" Akali hissed, but before she could continue, a sudden crescendo in the beat of the drums cut her off. She snapped back to watching the play. It was happening soon. They were reaching the climax of the story.

Reina, her robes torn, her chest heaving, her mask cracked and bloody, and rose to face her Demon. For the first time, the Demon was no longer confident, no longer arrogant in his step and viscous by his hand. Instead, the Demon looked scared, as he always did in the tale. But the actor did a marvelous job of the whole performance, visibly quivering and shrinking away at the threat.

The crowd started to cheer at Reina's turn of strength, and were already clapping for what they knew to be the next part of the play- where Reina dons her mask of strength, and the Demon flees, never to be seen again.

But there was something different this time. Something... wrong.

Reina had her mask of strength on, in the image of a victorious goddess, but the drums had not stopped beating. Reina raised her hands, ready to fight the demon to the death, as if she were confident it would flee, but it did not.

In fact, the Demon rose, just as confident and as arrogant as before.

Some in the crowd gave a halfhearted cheer at this twist of events, but most simply turned among themselves and murmured, confused. The hum of their voices nearly drowned out the music.

_What is this?_ They whispered. _This isn't how the play goes!_

Reina charged forwards, but the Demon melted back into the black curtain of the backstage, disappearing from view. Reina looked about, confused, even lashing out blindly. The woman who was playing Reina was putting on a spell-binding performance, but the crowd did not appreciate the actress' genius. There was only more murmuring, and even a few boos.

Then, out of nowhere, the Demon reemerged, and grabbed Reina from behind. She tried to fight the Demon off with her arms, but then, a eight spindly arms burst out of the black curtain of the backstage, and firmly secured Reina's right arm.

Lashing out wildly, Reina tried to fight off the now Demons with her left arm, but another arm burst out of the backstage curtain, and seemed to nail Reina's left arm into the void with a long, colorful spear. Though it was just a performance, the crowd groaned out loud at Reina's pain. The volume of the boos, hisses, and jeers now matched the crescendo of drums.

This was the real climax, Akali realized. And she watched with a pit in her stomach.

Reina's right arm was now secured tightly with a mess of thin white robes, and a woman strode out, this one wearing the mask of a seductive spider-demon. The _Jiraigumo _stroked Reina's face with two of the demon's eight arms, the actresses' demonic appendages being supported by many wires from above.

To the left, a spindly, disgusting form that looked less like a human and more than a skeleton staggered out. This was the creature that had crucified Reina's arm, and for a moment, Akali thought the circus people to be joking- that was the Blood Bone Spirit- simply a boogeyman meant teach children to keep their vows.

Finally, the Demon that had been tormenting Reina from the beginning strode out, but now holding a paper lantern and clutching at painted wooden chains- revealing the devil's true form as an Ionian god of death- the _Shinigami_.

Slowly carefully, the Blood Bone Spirit staggered over to Reina, spears protruding out of it's back in disgusting manner, and drew another colorful spear.

The yells of 'Mercy' from the crowd now completely drowned out the music; all of it's patrons now on their feet. Akali had to stand on her bench just to see what would happen next, Shen aside her, with a troubled look on his face.

The pleas of the crowd were not answered, and the Blood Bone Spirit ran her spear through Reina, killing the hero at the play's climax. The warrior-goddess touched lightly at the shaft in her belly, before falling forwards and dying with the beat of the drums and to the sad twangs of the guqin.

The audience, led on by the spell-binding performance up until now, were on the verge of rioting. As the actors scurried off stage under fire from a light rain of chucked food and offal, the original man who had introduced the performance strode out to a violent, angry, already departing crowd.

He simply stood there, bearing the cries and insults, until one man had shouted out with enough clarity for the entire amphitheater to hear:

"_Gou'si!" _He shouted, "What kind of ending was that?!"

As he had been waiting for the query, the actor smiled from under his white-half mask.

"Disappointed, honored patrons?" Without waiting for a response, the man continued:

"What you see is the true story of the _Tale of Reina." _The man tilted his head up at the Blood Moon, smiling at some joke known only to himself. "'Light can be found even in the deepest darkness'- that is the lie you have been told, and your ancestors have been told, and their ancestors before that, for hundreds and hundresd of years. There is no darkness in the light. There is only blackness past death, and before death, the only color you ever see is blood."

Shen leaned in to Akali, whispering into her ear.

"Akali, let's go."

"Huh?" Akali turned back from the man. "Why?"

"This feels wrong. Let's go."

"Oh- ah..."

Shen's attention snapped back to the stage, and for the first time, Akali noticed that Shen's face was completely pale. For the first time in her life, she saw Shen... scared.

"Too late," The normally stoic boy whispered, and grabbed Akali and ran. She could hear that man's voice float up from behind her:

"Death to the profligates of Ionia."

And then deafening roar erupted from down on front. Followed by the screams of women, and the cries of terror of death. The man up front was no longer speaking. Instead, he had drawn a pitch black blade that had been hidden on the floor of the stage, and swung, taking off the head of the man who had protested, showering those directly around him in blood.

"Don't look back!" Shen yelled, as he dragged Akali through the entrance of the amphitheater just before they closed. Behind them, the circus performers advanced upon the terror-stricken crowd, wielding weapons already soaking in blood.

* * *

><p>Master Akasou and Master Khen stood side by side, facing their adversaries. Shueto and Shuezi stood alike, as their Blood Moon brethren went rampant about Ing'Xao. Already, their subordinates were busy at work terrorizing the civilians around them, but the Kinkou could do nothing but watch- their Red Adversary was too strong and too cunning for the Kinkou sect to expose themselves to attempting to help powerless civilians. This was to be a fight to the bloody end, and even the slightest of openings shown by the Kinkou could lead to disaster and defeat.<p>

Always the extrovert, Shueto spoke first. His smile was cold on his face, and the playful tone of his voice didn't reach his eyes. No appetizers for their 'Hungry Dragons'. Tonight, they were going to feast.

"No words, dear friends." Shueto said as he hefted his coffin off of his hips, and slammed it heavily into the muddy ground, leaving the coffin standing upright; Shuezi mirroring him almost exactly. He cracked the lid open to reach in, and then twisted, and the two halves of the coffin surrounding his 'Hungry Dragon' fell off, revealing the horror within.

His hand, already bloody, gripped a pitch-black handle with a sheen brighter than the moon. That handle seemed to be attached to a blade, but that blade was covered in gore and chunks keeping the 'Dragon' constantly soaking in blood. Shueto reached up, lifting the dripping, butchered mess, and then slammed it onto the ground, shattering the remains of humans around his blade, breaking it free.

His massive one-handed blade shone in the moonlight, blacker than hell and inscribed in demonic cuniform. This was his 'Black Dragon'.

Right at his side, Shuezi did the same for her own two blades, shaking off the bloody mess that once was Brother Tam and Master Khen's Dai'nin with two swift, practiced slams onto the ground. The dainty woman gripped a massive blade in each hand like they weighed no more than willow wands, the two formed her very own 'Yulgang'.

"Above the mortal realm, blood washes towards the North, South, East and West." Shueto chanted, grasping 'Black Dragon' within his hand. Feeling her weight. Letting Black Dragon's hunger worm her way into him, making that hollow emptiness his own. At his side, Shuezi wordlessly chanted her own dark prayer to 'Yulgang', her eyes closed but her mouth moving rapidly.

"The Blood Moon reflects off the still water," Shueto continued, closing his eyes and tilting his face towards heaven, totally unconcerned of a surprise attack. "And the Frigid Edge of the blade shall drink Blood."

Shueto crouched, raising 'Black Dragon' above his head, letting the last drops of old blood fall onto his bamboo hat. Shuezi did the same, and the sibling assassins prepared.

Across from them, Akasou simply drew her chakram. Master Khen followed suit, drawing his twin swords, along with all of his Shadow Guard.

"You two talk too much," The Pruner of the Sacred Tree grumbled, raising her chakram and then charged.

* * *

><p>"Kona!" Akali screamed, running up to her friend. Kona was in the midst of digging her dagger into a red-robed man's neck. The teenage girl screamed in blind fear and rage, the man screamed in pain, and Kona pushed her assailant back, sending the man crashing into the outhouse. All around, people were running about in every which direction, screaming and panicking. It seemed like the entire village was being attacked at once.<p>

"Kona!" Akali yelled, and hugged her. The skinny, bookish girl couldn't stop trembling. That must have been her very first kill.

"Look out!" Shen yelled, looking over his shoulder. A large civilian, though not part of the red-robed warriors, was running at them, swinging a bloodied shovel wildly, his eyes frantic. The man was swinging at everyone and anything in his path, which was soon to be the three Xiao'nin before him. In his hands, he was already clutching a bag of loot; and his insane smile seemed to be torn in between his greed and his terror of death.

Akali tried to pull Kona out of the way, but Shen simply charged, driving his hand deep into the man's gut. Akali could hear ribs cracking, and the boy then turned and threw the civilian back. Soon the man was engulfed in the crowd, and they descended upon him, to his screams.

"We have to go!" Shen yelled. "NOW!"

"I... I'm fine, 'Kali" Kona muttered, reaching up to grip Akali's shoudler. "Shen's right. Let's go."

Akali scanned the melee, trying in vain to look for a way out.

"Where to?!"

Kona looked skywards, and pointed at a nearby rooftop. For an insane second, Akali thought Kona was going to joke and say 'It's your mom again'. But it didn't feel like a joke any longer. What she wouldn't give to see Mother right now. Akali knew she would be safe with her.

"Up!" Shen yelled, understanding, and immediately ran to the nearest building. The nimble boy scampered up the wooden beam to leap upwards and grasp at a snow-shrouded tile. With a quick boost of his hands, the boy was on the roof. He turned, reached down and held out his hand.

Kona staggered for a few steps, still covered in blood, before running just as quickly up the beam and into the reach of Shen's hand. He pulled Kona up, and Akali followed. She reached up for that same tile, but to her surprise, the tile came loose, she fell backwards into empty space and she felt that horrid lurching sensation of a free-fall.

"Oh..."

Would this be how she died? How stupid.

Then a rough grip snatched her, robes and she felt herself lurch forwards. Akali fell into Shen's embrace.

"Got you!" Once he was sure of his grip, the boy released her quickly and turned to scan the skyline of Ing'Xao.

It was a scene of hell descending upon earth. The black plumes of multiple fires raging about Ing'Xao left great pillars of darkness that stretched all the way up to the Blood Moon. From below, the sounds of constant screams and butchery arose to form a symphony that could have only be composed by the Devil himself. Akali let her guard down for only a second, and the heart-rending cry of a child for her mother cut into her chest like a dagger of ice.

"God..." Kona muttered, tears welling up in her eyes. "...Why?"

"Nothing we can do to help them," Shen stated flatly. The teenage boy already showed his training. "We need to find my father. He'll know what to do." He said so with unusual certainty.

"Mother... Mother and Master Khen were last at the Warrior Saint's Shrine." Akali recalled, her gaze fixed downwards. She turned to the profile of the Warrior Saint's Shrine in the distance. Though it was far away, she could see the dim outline of the massive building from behind the veil of smoke and the shower of snow.

Then, it looked like the very top of the Warrior Saint's Shrine simply fell off. Akali remembered with a pit in her stomach that the fixture at the top was nearly fifteen feet high. What in the world knocked it down?

"Something's going on over there" Akali announced. She turned to Shen, and he nodded, corroborating. He saw it too. "There's trouble." She felt another pit in her stomach when she remembered Mother. Mother was so strong. But would even she be OK? "We can't go there, then-"

"I'm going." Shen said flatly.

Akali and Kona turned to Shen in utter shock.

"Alone." Shen turned to face the Warrior Saint's Shrine in the distance. "I am of the Kinkou, and the Headmaster of our Sect is in trouble. You two, run somewhere and hide."

"Don't." Akali countered, and Shen turned back in surprise. His eyebrows were raised, and his frown deepened at Akali's resistance. "You'll die."

"Everyone dies."

"You'll die earlier."

"I was born to be a Kinkou," The teenage boy insisted, turning to crouch. "I'll die one, too." Shen said, intending for that to be the last word.

"YOU CAN'T!" Akali shouted.

He stopped.

"Don't throw yourself away so easily, Shen." Akali advanced, until the two were nearly face-to-face. "Your life is worth more than that!"

"And what do you know?!" Shen raised his voice, perhaps for the first time in his life, and from him flowed real anger. The boy advanced even closer, his teeth bared, sorrow-less tears rolling down his cheeks as he let a lifetime of emotions loose in a single outburst. "MY LIFE IS FOR THE KINKOU! AND NOTHING ELSE-!"

She lunged forwards, and kissed him.

They stood for a moment, there in the biting wind, sparks rising from the destruction below and screams and cries of murder and terror. Slowly, breathlessly, Akali let him go.

"You're not nothing." Akali said. "You told me that."

She turned to Kona.

"I'm going too, Kona." Akali wordlessly held out her hand. Kona gave a thin grin and took it.

"I'll follow you wherever, 'Kali."

"Shen..." Akali said to the wordless Xiao'nin. She gave a slight smile, despite everything. "Let's go. We're going to come back, alive. All of us."

Shen seemed to still be processing what happened. Slowly, surely, the boy then nodded.

"Alive," He agreed.

He then turned, and jumped, landing expertly on the next rooftop, followed closely by Akali and Kona. The three Xiao'nin darted across the maze of rooftops to the megalith of a temple in the distance. They ran to Warrior Saint's Shrine. Between rooftops and screams, dodging raging fires and crumbling buildings, Kona found the time and the humor to smile darkly and lean in to Akali's ear and whisper:

"Nice one."

* * *

><p>More than half of the combatants already lay dead on the ground, yet the fighting showed no sign of letting up. Yet while the Kinkou grew more and more ragged with every death, those of the Blood Moon Sect seemed to revel in the slaughter, even as their comrades fell to the strikes of the Dai'nin's swords.<p>

A Dai'nin lunged forwards, his thin sword whistling through the air, parrying the strike of a red-robed warrior. A turn, a twist, and the Dai'nin's riposte turned as quickly as a swallow in the air, arcing back into the Blood Moon Sect member's throat. The man wordlessly fell backwards, crimson life spilling from under the chin of his white mask, but even as he died, he was cut in half from behind by one of his fellow comrade. The second Blood Moon warrior's blade cut cleanly through his friend and into that Dai'nin, burying the pitch-black blade deep into the elite ninja's gut.

Without missing a beat, another Dai'nin sprung into action. Too late to save his comrade, the Dai'nin simply raised his fingers and blew, gathering and igniting his chi into a roaring fireball, engulfing the two Blood Moon warriors and his fellow Dai'nin alike. All three burned to ashes without so much as a scream.

And in the center of the bloodbath, the four fought, tooth and nail.

Shueto spun in the center, then plunged Black Dragon into the ground, injecting his chi deep into the earth. Black cracks erupted from the scar in the frosted ground, followed by a forceful wave of chi from the attack. Master Khen and Master Akasou braced themselves, blocking the assault with their own willpower. The black wave crashed over their own force of chi, doing little damage.

But as they did, Shuezi flew in from the flanks, her twin blades moving so quickly in the night, they seemed invisible. She assaulted Akasou first, the glimmers of the edge of her blades surrounding her with points and streaks of light. With only two relatively small chakram to guard herself, each strike of Shuezi's blade necessitated the guard of both of Akasou's steel edged rings. Steel kissed black meteorite iron. Fiery sparks burst from their contact, lighting up the nighttime battle for instants at a time.

"Akasou!" Master Khen yelled, then ran to Akasou's aid, even as Shueto pursued him, waving Black Dragon over his head.

Automatically, Akasou held her hand out, and Khen grasped it. In one practiced motion, she leaped, and he slid, and the two Kinkou Triumvirate switched places, Khen putting himself in the way of Shuezi's storm of blades, and Akasou facing the charging Shueto.

Master Khen dropped his swords to the ground, and held up his hands, his watchful eyes carefully tracking the twin blades before him. The principles of the Taiji guiding his hands, he moved like water flowing through a rocky stream, shifting and swaying along with Shuezi's strikes. The Blood Moon assassin's eyes grew wide, as she felt herself get sucked into the rhythm of Master Khen's dance.

While Khen was holding off Shuezi, Akasou turned backwards, and then threw her chakram at Shueto, the steel-edged rings spinning with lethal force at the bladesman. Shueto swept the rings aside with a single sweep of his blade, but barely had the time to draw back his blade before Akasou was in his face, her filed fingers flying at his face.

"Gah!" Shueto grunted, and he leaned backwards, but not quickly enough. Akasou's fingers carved at his cheek, leaving three red lines running down his face.

Behind her, Master Khen finally had Shuezi. He swayed, she drunkenly swung, and suddenly, Master Khen had Shuezi's arm firmly in his grasp. She gave a silent gasp of surprise. With a turn, Master Khen threw the Blood Moon assassin over his shoulder, sending Shuezi flying.

"Slow at heart, swift at fist," Master Khen chanted, turning his hands, as Shuezi fell tumbling into her brother. He held his hands in front of him once more, his swords still stuck into the ground, forgotten. "Twin hands shake the Taiji."

Shuezi silently got up, her face shrouded in shadow. She looked up and mirrored her brother's furious face. Shueto gnashed his teeth, and pounded the snow with a black gloved fist. Never before had they been humiliated like this.

He got up, and drew Black Dragon. She followed, holding each half of Yulgang in her hands.

"Blood Blade Tactics," Shueto muttered, then held his blade out wide. "Wind Scar."

The man lunged forwards, slashing at the very air in front of him. That slash gave birth to a blade of wind that shot forwards like an arrow at the two Kinkou Triumvirate.

The two fell to their knees, but Shuezi was already in motion. Her lips moved and the slightest of whispers could be heard in between the blur of her blades.

"...Dragon Rides The Wind..."

She swung in every direction, carving to and fro, back and forth in seemingly random directions, but as she did, the very weight of her swinging blades carried her towards her prey. She seemed to be flying as she cut, like a flower blossom, floating along a gust of wind. A deadly, bladed, red robed flower. Carried on Shueto's gust of wind, Shuezi barreled into Khen and Akasou like a charging bull, her blades unstoppable, her force lethal at a touch.

"Gah!"

"Agh!"

The force of Shuezi's blades erupted in an explosion of wind, snow, and chi, scattering the two Kinkou Triumvirate like leaves. More bladed gusts of wind from Shueto rocketed towards Akasou, but she cartwheeled away. Khen was at her side in an instant, pulling her to the side. They crouched together, having each other backs.

"Akasou..."

"He's a long range chi emitter." Akasou stated flatly. "The woman's a close range fighter. They cover each others' weaknesses. They're good."

"Akasou-"

"We can beat them, Khen."

"Akasou..." Khen reached up, and placed a heavy hand on Akasou's shoulder. "I'm sorry. You can feel it, right? You can feel the difference."

The Pruner of the Sacred Tree lowered her head. She knew what Khen was talking about.

"...Yeah."

These two... were not the source of that wave of evil chi that they had felt the night before. That meant that whoever that dark sun of chi belonged to, was still...

To their front, the two Blood Moon Sect assassins lowered their weapons. They felt the man's presence rather than saw him. It was a red shadow at their backs.

Khen and Akasou turned to face the Blood Moon Elder, standing on a snowy rooftop. The light of fires at his back cut a dark silhouette of his form. His red hood, his dark metal pauldrons, and the massive glaive he held on his back. His presence revealed, the Blood Moon Elder ceased to conceal his power, and that same, overpowering chi flowed from the man. It was like trying to breathe under the deep sea. Everything around him, he ruled. The very ground he walked upon was his domain.

This was the Mountain Dragon, the Glaive Devil, the Elder of the Blood Moon Sect.

"Still not finished?" The Blood Moon Elder tapped his fingers on the hardwood of his glaive. His red eyes shone inside of his hood. There was no humor, no warmth. Only cold, brutal calculations.

Shueto and Shuezi knelt, oblivious to the fighting around them, nor the Kinkou Triumvirate they had previously been trying to murder.

"You two disappoint me."

The Blood Moon Elder jumped, and landed lightly on the ground, despite the massive weapon on his back. He slowly drew his glaive forwards, feeling the weapon's weight, holding the massive blade-like spear horizontal in his hands. As he did, black smoke seemed to bleed off of the man, the manifestation of achieving the utmost greatest levels of chi cultivation.

The Blood Moon Elder then addressed the Kinkou Triumvirate directly.

"Surrender the two halves of the Warrior Saint Codex." The Blood Moon Elder ordered.

Akasou was the first to speak.

"Never."

The Blood Moon Elder drew his glaive back, the shaft of the weapon groaning under the weight of the massive bladed spearhead. His chi bled upwards into his glaive, igniting the glaive's blade in a spurt of black fire.

"Then die."

He swung forwards, and Khen and Akasou closed their eyes in the face of their failure. Khen held Akasou. They looked away from their death.

The glaive was only an instant away from obliterating the Kinkou before it suddenly stopped in place. A shield of light blocked its way, catching the deadly weapon within it's grasp. The Blood Moon Elder didn't seem surprised. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, and pushed forwards.

An explosion rocked the town square before Warrior Saint's Shrine. It bloomed outwards in a burst of black and red fire, mixed with beams of golden holy light.

The Kinkou Triumvirate looked upwards, stunned. They were alive.

And before them stood a ragged man, tall under his wide-brimmed hat and with the ragged dark kasaya of a Shojin monk. He held in his grasp a longstaff with golden ram heads. The ram's horns had stopped the black glaive in its tracks. And from him, bled out the golden aura of a man who reached Enlightenment- his chi was holy, scantified, and his power nearly reaching the strength of the Warrior Saint, who the Shojin worshipped as one who reached the title of _fo_- 'Buddha'.

The Blood Moon Elder drew his weapon back, placing it firmly onto his metal pauldron once more, unmoved by the awesome sight before him.

"Amitabha, Brother Duyuan." Tripitaka greeted his once friend, raising and clasping his hands together in respect.

"Xuanzang." The Blood Moon Elder replied with Tripitaka's given name, the name he had before Tripitaka had been given his holy name. "So you will get in my way until the end."

"To save your soul, Brother Duyuan." Tripitaka spun his staff over his head and then slammed it into the ground, cracking the stone and earth easily. "I will stop your madness."

"Wrong, old friend." The Blood Moon Elder slammed his glaive into the ground, shattering the earth and leaving a small crater in the soil. "You're going to make me kill my sworn brother."

Apart from the two legendary masters fighting, Shueto and Shuezi slowly looked upwards, looking at the Kinkou Triumvirate. Their Elder's admonishment had struck blind terror into the sibling assassins once more. Shueto drew Black Dragon, Shuezi drew Yulgang, and the two Kinkou Triumvirate drew their own weapons in response.

"From the frying pan..." Akasou muttered. She rose, and gripped her chakram, spinning the rings in her hands, cutting figure eights as she advanced. Master Khen reached downwards and gripped a sword, dropped by one of his fallen Dai'nin. He rose, his sword swaying to and fro.

The four combatants then charged at each other once more.


	7. Sacrifice

The heavy glaive skirted along the hardened, frosted grounds, tearing the rock and dirt below like the claws of a charging dragon. The Blood Moon Elder swung the massive blade with crushing force at the glowing, tattered monk before him.

A monstrous roar sounded with the clang of wood, hard as steel, clashing with meteorite iron, and the Blood Moon Elder was repelled once more. The red-robed man was sent sliding, and Tripitaka turned his staff over once more. The golden ram's head of his longstaff still shone with holy power.

The Sect Leader lowered his glaive, and sighed. From deep within him, his demonic voice sung once more.

_Haaa..._

Patches of dirt around him started to break, every flake of falling snow stained black, and the dark smoke that seemed to constantly bleed off of the Blood Moon Elder started to flicker in black and violet flames.

With a single swipe, the Blood Moon Elder swung, launching a burst of dark flame that soared into the sky, roaring with the voice of a dragon. That burst cut through the top of the Warrior Saint's Shrine, destroying the shrine's crown lantern. A gale of wind followed the Elder's swing, rising with the man's rage and power.

"Just one glimpse of the Warrior Saint's Codex, and I have already achieved this much, Xuanzang." The Blood Moon Elder narrowed his red eyes at the monk before him. "I have far surpassed anything I could have been as a Shojin monk. You cannot defeat me."

Tripitaka shivered at the overwhelming sensation of evil that flooded the air. Poor, lost Duyuan. How far the villainous fall from Buddha's graces.

"...You are strong, Duyuan." Tripitaka admitted, but he continued with conviction. "But I don't have to defeat you to stop you."

"You'll give your life just to get in my way?"

"If I have to. As the Warrior Saint gave his life for Ionia, so shall I."

"Prayers to the wind. You can tell your petty gods all about your piety- once I send you to them."

The Blood Moon Elder lowered his stance, holding his glaive low to the ground like a lance. The Elder raised an open palm at the outcast Shojin before him, tracking the ragged monk's every twitch, every motion, every breath.

"Blood Blade Tactics:" The fires of his chi started to burn at the Blood Moon Elder's feet. The Blood Moon Elder sighed, loosening his body. "Bladesfall Shatters the Heart."

The Blood Moon Elder stepped.

_Tak._

There was only a small burst of rock and dirt from where the Blood Moon Elder once stood-

-then he was above Tripitaka, his glaive over his shoulder, already turning in the air. The Elder had masterfully transferred the torrent of his chi flow from his legs to his glaive, transforming the already powerful weapon into an unstoppable force of nature. Too late to dodge, the Shojin monk tried to block the Elder's attack, but the exquisite longstaff might as well have been a twig to the Blood Moon Elder's empowered glaive.

Tripitaka's eyes grew wide as the black fires of the Blood Moon Elder's chi burnt through his treasured staff almost as if it weren't there. The monk crossed his arms over himself and braced as best he could from the blow.

Another roar of the winds of war, another explosion, and black flames and holy power danced outwards to light the Warrior Saint's Shrine aglow.

And when it was finished, Tripitaka was crouched, forced onto the ground. Both his hands were trembling, gripping for dear life at the head of the Blood Moon Elder's glaive. That glaive was already halfway into the old monk's shoulder, just a twitch of the hand away from cutting his heart in half.

The Blood Moon Elder looked upwards. The Sect Leader gave a masked_ tsk_ of annoyance.

"Shojin kung-fu's Iron Body?" The Blood Moon Elder bared his teeth. That Xuanzang would dare display such elementary kung fu in this final clash between the two. "Fool. How could you believe such shallow kung fu could stand up to my power?"

Tripitaka coughed up blood in reply, his hands bleeding and slippery. The weight of the Blood Moon Elder's glaive waxed as the Blood Moon Elder pushed harder down into Tripitaka. "Just give up and die."

Tripitaka exhaled, and looked upwards at his once friend. From behind his dark eyes and his pale face, Tripitaka gave a grin.

"Not while I still have this Earth below my feet, and Heaven at my back."

His hands stopped their sliding and the monk's muscles started to bulge. A moment of confusion crossed the Blood Moon Elder's mind, as he tried to pull his glaive out, but found his weapon stuck. The red hooded man gave a small snarl of annoyance when he realized what Tripitaka was doing. More holy chi bled off of Tripitaka, his breath quickened, and his hands trembled once more, but this time not with weakness- with crushing strength. His efforts came to a crescendo when Tripitaka flung his head to the sky, and roared.

The snow around the two men started to tremble- and then the monk ripped the glaive's head into three pieces, shearing the hardest black meteorite iron apart like a book.

The Blood Moon Elder stepped back, with what was left of his weapon now free. The red-robed man took one glance at his ruined weapon before tossing it aside, snarling. He turned to face his old friend once more.

Tripitaka, his robes ripped, tore what was left of his kasaya away, revealing his bloodied flesh underneath. The man's wide-brimmed hat fell to the snowy ground, forgotten. The monstrous cut to his shoulder was already closing simply by the power of the monk's life force. He reached up to rip the last remnants of metal weapon still in his body, pulling shards of metal out like they were nothing more than splinters.

When he was finished, the jagged, savage cut to the monk's shoulder was little more than a long, pink scar starting from the top of his breast to the back of his shoulder; his life-threatening injury little more than an afterthought.

"That's not the Shojin Sect's Iron Body." The Blood Moon Elder muttered, low under his breath.

"This is the Vajra Array." Tripitaka replied, and gave a short laugh. "And this is the Shojin's Bronze Bell."

Tripitaka closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his chest rising as he seemed to suck away every scrap of air about him. When he exhaled, the snow on the ground around him blew away, leaving naked ground and revealing a shining, glowing pin-wheeled cross beneath the two of them- the holy symbol of the Manji. The massive religious symbol stretched all the way from the entrance of the Warrior Saint's Shrine to the very edge of the square.

"This is consecrated ground, Duyuan." Tripitaka opened his eyes, and stared at the Blood Moon Elder from the strands of hair that drifted downwards onto his face. "He who is called Buddha will not let the faithful die within his holy array."

"Parlor magic."

"If you doubt, then come. So long as I stand on this ground," Tripitaka crouched low over the Manji symbol shining from beneath him. He folded his hands outwards, ready to receive his enemy. "I shall not die."

"Hmph."

The Blood Moon Elder sighed, letting the evil chi within him grow once more. He lowered his head, and closed his eyes in contemplation. He drew upon every last remnant of what he remembered of the Warrior Saint's Codex, back from when he caught a glimpse of its storied pages, so many long years ago.

"You had the right idea, Xuanzang."

The Blood Moon Elder strode forwards, but now, he wasn't alone.

Two empty shadows bled off of him, burning acrid smoke in his image. They moved stiffly and their eyes were dull with mindless automaton, but each one of them was a clone of the Blood Moon Elder's power in strength, if not spirit. The whole earth seemed to shudder at the presence of not one, but three beings of the Blood Moon Elder's power setting foot on the earth. The dark, shadowy ghosts stalked outwards to either side of him, shuffling away, leaving burning footsteps in their path.

"You might be immortal so long as you tread in your little golden circle, Xuanzang- but your pet Kinkou aren't."

Tripitaka's eyes widened, and the monk dashed to the side to stop the black shadows, but the real Blood Moon Elder mirrored his movements, halting the outcast Shojin in his tracks. The Sect Leader smiled for the first time. The Blood Moon Elder knew his victory was at hand.

"I told you before." The Blood Moon Elder muttered, flexing his hands. His fingers were thin, pale and had the look of claws. "I am already more powerful than the Shojin ever could be."

Tripitaka narrowed his eyes. He turned to face his former sworn brother, then lowered his stance. The monk raised two cracked, rugged fists in a ready position.

"You only had to sacrifice your soul."

The Blood Moon Elder ignored him, and continued to advance. His red eyes glowed from under his hood, as he edged closer and closer to the monk, a black wind gathering at his feet and about his left hand.

"Bear witness to the power of the Vortex of Shadows."

The Blood Moon Elder then charged, thrusting his left hand forwards, the shadows at his feet soaring outwards in dozens of smoky tendrils. The darkness shrouded the Manji symbol at their feet and the two legendary masters were then enveloped within a cloud of darkness.

* * *

><p>As Akali ran, she felt a pang in her chest. It was so sharp and so sudden, she thought she might have imagined it. The sensation nearly made her miss her step as she followed Shen and Kona's path, leaping across the baked tiles of the many roofs of Ing'Xao village. The cries of slaughter and massacre was starting to die down now. The easy targets of the festival had long since been cut down, their bodies littered the village every hundred feet or so. Those who still survived cowered in hiding, all survivors desperately trying to avoid the attention of the roaming bands of red-robed men who were patrolling the village. Only now and then, one of those death bands would spot the three junior ninja darting over the rooftops and scream bloody murder, but the sound of their cries swiftly died out, fading into the distance as the Xiao'nin quickly left them behind.<p>

Akali slowed for only a step, a hand over her heart.

What was that feeling...?

* * *

><p>Akasou screamed and fell away from the Shadow that had ambushed her, blood streaming from the deep cut in her arm. Shuezi stopped as soon as the Blood Moon Elder's Shadow had made it's appearance, and leaped away, her fear of the dark, smoky specter palpable.<p>

Across from the two, Khen saw the attack on Akasou, and yelled in blind rage, but the Blood Moon Elder's other Shadow had arrived at Master Khen's side, and cut deeply into his back. The master ninja stumbled to the side, gravely wounded. Despite their advantage, the Shadows did not charge, did not slow; the dark ghosts barely made any indication they had any direction at all.

But as soon as the ninjas hit the ground, the Shadows turned to the source of the sound, and continued advancing upon their prey, silently shuffling with dark blades in their hands. Far above, the sibling assassins immediately fell back, leaping onto a nearby rooftop and staying at each others' side; wary of the dark, hooded shadows.

One of the Shadows turned to look at the sibling assassins. Torn between two different directives, the Shadow instead split, one head peeling off of the other, the spawning shadow struggling against its father with its shadowy limbs. The father continued on it's slow lumber towards the two Kinkou Triumvirate, who were busy cutting at the smoke of the first Shadow upon them.

The new, third Shadow spoke to the sibling assassins, though its lips did not move. Instead, the words of the Blood Moon Elder resonated out of his shadowy ghost.

"Remember your mission."

Finished, it turned towards the Kinkou, who were now fleeing from four Shadows, and shuffled off to join his brothers.

Silently, Shueto and Shuezi looked at each other, and then towards the unguarded Warrior Saint's Shrine.

* * *

><p>"KHEN!" Akasou screamed, crying tears of rage, her chakram flying in every direction, killing some Shadows, but only ever spawning more. "THE CODEX!"<p>

Khen, struggling under the weight of three different Shadows pushing down upon his twin swords, tilted his head to look. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two Blood Moon assassins charge into the Warrior Saint's Shrine, cutting down what few Kinkou Dai'nin remained in their way. The woman broke open the barred doors, then ran as fast as she could inside. Though they were injured from their fights, the two Blood Moon assassins were far and away in better shape than the torn and tattered mess of the Kinkou's bodies.

"...Gh...!" Khen grunted. His efforts turned to a roar: "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

He turned his sword to the side, letting the weapons slide past him. And with his twin swords he carved outwards into the Shadows before him, scattering their smoke into the wind.

Finally free, Khen stumbled forwards. Akasou burst out of more than a half dozen Shadows herself, running upwards onto a nearby building before stepping out into the air, landing next to Khen. She stumbled, her left hand flailing wildly, her tendons a severed ruin.

"Come on, Akasou." Khen whispered quietly. "Just... just one last run."

The massive cut in his side had soaked his robes all the way through. He reached up, and leaned on Akasou, and she on him, the two half limping, half dashing towards the Warrior Saint's Shrine. Yet with every step, the Shrine seemed to be getting further and further away.

The Blood Moon Assassins were already outside, the woman holding the Writ of Heaven within the folds of her robe, the man with the Vortex of Shadows under his arm, the two careful not to touch the powerful texts with their bare flesh. They seemed so little, so far away. They could see Shueto looking from side to side, searching for his coffin. Upon finding it, he returned his 'Black Dragon' to its bloody sheath.

"Khen..." Akasou gasped, her hair matted, her face pale.

"Don't...talk."

"I'm sorry..."

Akasou collapsed, leaving Master Khen stumbling forwards alone. His own head was spinning from the blood loss, he couldn't feel anything in his side.

But he still had his sword...

...He leaned backwards, trying to track at least one of the Blood Moon Assassins with his eyes. He couldn't bind the Warrior Saint Codex, but he could at least keep them from taking both of the martial arts scripts.

He pulled his hand back-

– and then a black gloved hand grabbed it, stopping the master ninja's movements in his tracks.

Master Khen stopped. He slowly turned to face the Blood Moon Elder at his side, the Sect Leader's hand on his arm, stopping his last ditch attack before it even started. In the background, he could see that old, ragged monk, lying face-down in the snow, the ground below him glowing where it wasn't stained with black chi. Khen closed his eyes, and finally accepted his defeat.

And then the Blood Moon Elder reached with his other hand and smashed the Kinkou leader a half foot into the ground.

The sect leader sighed.

Finally. It was done.

One by one, the Blood Moon Elder released his hold over the many Shadows that had multiplied, the dark shades exploding into dark tendrils and wisps. All trace of the Vortex fo Shadow's power vanished into the wind.

The sect leader fell to a knee, breathing heavily. His spirit and energy were spent. The man felt as if he could barely stand. Tripitaka had been subdued. The Kinkou destroyed. And his two assassins had the halves of the Warrior Saint Codex within their grasp. They... had finally won. The Blood Moon Elder swayed, coughing up blood. He had underestimated his old friend, and been gravely injured for it.

As he stumbled, his remaining Blood Moon Sect subordinates rushed to his aid. One of them, a leader among their men, a deacon wearing a half-mask trimmed with gold, dropped low to offer the Blood Moon Elder his shoulder. When the Elder was safely up, the man leaned in to whisper into the sect leader's ear.

"Sir- we are losing scouts and raiding parties to our North." The man lowered his voice further, so not to alert his comrades. "We believe they are being destroyed by an approaching enemy force."

The Blood Moon Elder showed barely any sign that he heard, except for a softening of his ragged breath.

"Who?" The man rasped out.

"They wield swords and bear the yin-yang symbol on their flags and their robes."

"The Wudang Sect." The Blood Moon Elder narrowed his eyes, cold calcuations turning over in his head. "Sound the retreat."

"Yes, master-" The Blood Moon Deacon started, but was stopped but a bloodcurdling scream from a nearby rooftop.

Everyone in the square turned to face the source of the sudden outburst.

"MOTHER?!"

* * *

><p>She stood at the top of a building, her breath a constant fog in front of her mouth and eyes wide open in the shock and disbelief of seeing her mother laying on her side in a pool of her own blood. Oblivious to the scattered remnants of Dai'nin Kinkou and Blood Moon Sect soldiers around her, Akali dropped; nearly fell, from that rooftop to land, then approach her mother's prone body, leaving her friends behind.<p>

"...Mother...?" Akali whispered once more, as if she was afraid to wake Master Akasou. She couldn't feel her steps any longer. Each short shuffle towards the surreal sight of her mother's body made her feel as if she was floating. "...Mom?"

Akali fell to her knees at her mother's side. Kona covered her mouth with her hands, looking as if she was about to cry. The cloth of Akali's legs stained crimson as she knelt in her mother's blood. Her hands trembling, she reached out to touch her mother's shoulder. Underneath the Kinkou master's green suit, she felt so cold. "How...? Why...? Who did this to you, Mom?"

A thick, raspy voice cut in from the side. She swiveled her head to face a bloodied, crushed thing buried in a crater. Shen was crouched at the things side, his face lowered and shrouded. She couldn't recognize the man, but she recognized that voice. Oh God- was that?

"Aka... li..." Master Khen grunted out. He raised an arm full of shattered bones, pointing away to the distance. "P-Please... "

"Headmaster..?" Akali asked quietly, her grief now touched with confusion. "What are you pointing at...?"

Observing the scene, the Blood Moon Elder growled at the dead man's last efforts. So this man wouldn't give up until the very end.

"Kill them all." The Blood Moon Elder ordered under his breath.

"Yes, Master." The Blood Moon Deacon turned, pointed at the Kinkou and made a slashing motion. Two of the few Blood Moon Sect soldiers left alive stepped forwards immediately, drawing their blades, ready to finish off the last of the Kinkou right then and there.

The two men raised their weapons over the shattered Kinkou Triumvirate and their grieving offspring. Akali didn't even glance upwards at the man standing over her head, ready to kill her.

Then a rush of wind, a few guttural chokes, and one of the Blood Moon soldiers simply fell to pieces, his head flying one way, his arms and chest another. The other Blood Moon soldier straight out disappeared. A short, shocked scream echoed from far above, and the man reappeared, landing onto the hard ground a moment later.

Shocked, the men of the Blood Moon shouted and cursed at the sight. Men and heroes they feared not. But invisible forces that tore warriors apart and vanished them to their deaths was an entirely different story.

"Enemy attack! Protect the Elder!" The Deacon shouted, rallying his men around their injured sect leader. To the fastest of his men, the Deacon ordered them upwards onto the rooftops, expecting some kind of long-ranged fighter. "Search the rooftops, now!"

From down below, the Blood Moon Elder raised his face to the sky, and saw, from far, far out, a bird, soaring far above Ing'Xao village in circles. Despite the bird's height, it was clearly visible from so far below.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Deacon." The sect leader asked for his lieutenant.

The Blood Moon Deacon responded at once to his master's commands. "You will stay behind with the remaining men here and kill the rest of the Kinkou."

"Master- Stay behind?"

Without another word, the Blood Moon Elder turned, and disappeared in a burst of snow and dirt, soaring far away to a rooftop to the South, to the dismayed looks of his abandoned men. Without another glance, the Blood Moon Elder left his men to die.

There was a battle cry coming from the North, and all of the Blood Moon soldiers raised their weapons to level at an empty streetway. From there rose the sound of horsehooves beating against the frost ground. The first of the Wudang forces started to round the corner, their swords gleaming in their hands and their many colored flags bearing the yin-yang symbol of the Wudang Sect fluttering on their backs. At the sight of the red-robed warriors, the Wudang cavalry, numbering a dozen at least, drew their swords and raised it to the sky, yelling and charging their enemy.

Distracted by the sight of the enemy before him, the Deacon never even noticed that the bird in the sky started to dive downwards straight towards him.

The man never saw his death coming.

* * *

><p>It didn't matter to Akali that the enemy had her surrounded. It barely mattered to her that for some reason, men were simply falling apart or disappearing and falling from the heaven above, or that more forces were starting to stream in from the North, engaging what was left of the Blood Moon forces in the air. The sky could have been falling, and she scarcely would have noticed.<p>

Her mother... was dead.

Akali gripped Akasou's remaining arm, crying softly. Kona put a tear-stained hand on Akali's shoulder, but Akali acted as if it wasn't even there.

"Mom..." Akali whispered between tears. "Mom..."

"P-Please..." Master Khen muttered, even as bubbles of blood dribbled out of the side of his mouth. His short, barely comprehensible explanation had nearly killed him right then and there. It took nearly all of Khen's concentration just to stay conscious. "You have to try to stop them..." Already, Master Khen was drifting off into unconsciousness.

"Find the assassins," Shen repeated, his normally quiet voice barely a whisper. The stoic boy's eyes stayed averted, away from his father's destroyed body. "Retrieve the Warrior Saint's Codex." Shen confirmed.

Though it still felt like a dream, Akali rose to Shen's side. Kona drifted upwards with her and took her hand. Shen and Kona jumped away, and Akali was just about to follow when something reached up to grab her ankle.

She looked downwards, and nearly fell over in shock.

It was Akasou, stubbornly clinging to life. Reaching out to grasp her daughter with her one remaining arm.

"Don't."

"Mother!" Akali bent down. "Don't talk! You're..."

"Don't... go to face them." Akasou whispered, her beautiful face pale as the snow that fell around her body. Her lips were a deep crimson, the same color as the blood that mixed with the ice about her body. She gazed upwards with frosty eyes at her own daughter. "Walk away from it all, my daughter."

Akasou sighed, and Akali felt a jolt at the fear that her mother might have given up on life, but the Kinkou's stubborn breathing labored on. Her mother's pained eyes shone from inside her pale face.

"Find a merchant or a scholar... Find a... man ...fill a house with children, grow old and die peacefully... live a better life than this." Akasou was barely whispering now. She was crying, but no tears came out. "Don't go, my daughter. Don't leave to your death."

"Mother..." Akali rose. "I'm... sorry."

"Akali?!" Akasou's voice became a sharp hiss, and her eyes grew wide as she struggled to look upwards at her daughter.

"I... need to do this," Akali hung her head. She scarcely could believe the words coming out her mouth. This was surely going to be her death.

"You...! If you ever loved me at all...!" Akasou clawed at the dirt and snarled. Her rage was more terrible than it ever had been in her entire life. "YOU WON'T GO!"

"Mother...! I'll come back! I swear!" Akali gave a single sob. Her hands trembled, but her feet moved on their own. The young ninja turned to run away.

"You ungrateful brat!" Akasou yelled out to her daughter's retreating back. "You idiot! Akali! My daughter!" Akasou wailed, crying in the snow. "Don't go!" The Kinkou master's voice was being lost in the wind and the falling snow. "Please...!" Akasou sobbed, as her daughter's back disappeared over the a rooftop and vanished into the gusts of wind and the falling snow, a trail of frozen tears left in her wake.

* * *

><p>来是空言去绝踪<p>

Her promises to come were empty words.

* * *

><p>The two Blood Moon assassins were at the edge of the village. The maze of clustered houses tapered off into wide, open farmlands cut sparingly into the cliffs and crevasses of the hills to the South of Ing'Xao. Shueto and Shuezi had managed to avoid the advancing Wudang parties, but their injuries were not minor. Until the Blood Moon Elder intervened in their fights, their duels with the Kinkou had been brutal.<p>

Shueto stumbled on the path, his injuries catching him off guard, then stopped to clench at his side. It felt like a hot iron rod in his side. The man fell forwards, sprawling onto the dirt, and coughed up a mixture of clear spit and blood.

Worried, Shuezi dropped to his side, holding his hand with concern.

Around them, rampant fires had advanced even as far as the edge of town, eating at the abandoned houses, consuming wood, metal and corpses alike. The light of the infernos gave birth to a second day to Ing'Xao's farmlands, coloring the frozen ground with the colors of poppies.

Shueto reached up to grip at his sister's shoulders, struggling with the pain.

"I'm fine." Shueto insisted, but his strained look and the paleness in his face said otherwise. A thin line of blood ran down the corner of his mouth, cutting a line through the stubble on his chin. His breath was a constant cloud in front of his mouth, as the Blood Moon assassin struggled and labored for every breath.

Floating sparks weaved a path through falling snow. Shueto struggled to his feet, still clutching at the Vortex of Shadows wrapped within the folds of his robes.

"We're almost there, Shuezi."

She nodded in affirmation, and bent down to put her brother over her shoulder- but upon looking ahead, the assassin stopped.

"No." A boy's voice rang out over the sounds of fire. "You're not going anywhere."

Shueto and Shuezi looked upwards, to see Shen, walking in the middle of the road, a sword held with both hands to his side. The boy's steps turned into a run, and his entire body leaned forwards, dragging his thin sword behind him until the Xiao'nin was fully charging the Blood Moon assassins.

"Just a kid..." Shueto muttered under his breath. He jerked his head forwards, and Shuezi advanced.

She stepped forwards to meet the boy, her hands bare and cold. Shen carved forwards with his sword, cutting loops at her face but she floated from side to side, avoiding the junior ninja's attacks with ease. One swipe came too close to her face, and she simply caught the blade between two long, pale fingers. Shen's eyes widened, and he struggled to push deeper with his blade. With her other hand, Shuezi swiped at Shen, cutting at his face. The boy just barely managed to avoid having his face sheared off. Instead, three red lines shone of the boy's cheek from Shuezi's nails just grazing his face. Shen let his sword go, twisting to dodge away from Shuezi's flying claws of hands.

Wordlessly, Shuezi flipped the sword she took from the retreating boy into her hands, and threw it full force at his neck. Shen would have been decapitated if he did not dip low and crouch, nearly prone onto the ground. The sword instead killed an innocent tree behind him, burying it's shaft a foot-deep into the wood.

Shen tried to recover, but Shuezi was already on him. She raised her leg to kick Shen violently in the side. The boy gave a cough as he felt his ribs crack, and he went sprawling to the ground.

Shen tried to raise his head, his breath labored, but he could only manage to stare at the feet of the advancing Blood Moon assassins with dim eyes.

"You're not bad, boy." Shueto said blankly, limping forwards. He neared an abandoned cart full of straw and hay.

Shen said nothing, only to lower his head.

"But did you really think..." Shueto's face turned dark with anger, and he snarled. "That you could fool us with such an obvious trap?!"

He flexed his hand, then spun on his heel. His hand raced downwards into the abandoned cart, piercing through the mess of hay to grab Akali by the throat.

Shueto pulled Akali out of her hiding spot in that nearby cart, raising her high off of her feet, while the young ninja clawed at his hand over her throat, choking. He then turned and threw her hard onto the ground. The junior ninja cried out from the pain as she bounced off of the hardened snow and dirt.

"Akali!" Kona yelled, then ran from her own hiding spot. The junior ninja got only three steps before Shueto turned to backhand her violently. The skinny girl went sprawling past him, collapsing next to her friend prone on the ground.

"Brats." Shueto muttered. He reached to his back, gripping his heavy coffin with one hand. They didn't deserve the honor of a clean death. Lifting his coffin vertical over Akali's head, he deigned to take one last look at the girl's face before he smashed it like a rotten fruit.

But despite everything, there was a smile on her face.

Akali strained to look upwards into the man, before raising her hand. In it, a spool of wires, nearly invisible to the naked eye.

"NOW!" She yelled, and kicked herself away from the red-robed man, rising to her feet and pulling her hands upwards, while Kona and Shen scrambled to their feet, doing the same. A web of wires arose from the snow on the group, wrapping Shueto and Shuezi's arms to their side. The man looked back and forth at the trap in disbelief. Shuezi alike struggled like a fly in a trap.

"What- You-!" The man's muscles bulged as tried to break free of the wires, but Shen was already at his hands, a small dagger in his grasp. A single swipe of the knife, and the Vortex of Shadows was free, along with a lone severed finger, turning in the air.

"YOU BRATS!" Shueto screamed, and with a shout, the man snapped the wires restraining him with ease. But he was too late. Just below him, Akali lunged forwards, and managed to grasp the black book within both hands.

"I got it!" Akali screamed.

Akali stumbled forwards, just barely avoiding the injured Shueto's vengeful hands. She managed to skirt away to relative safety, the black book under her arms. Kona and Shen dashed over to join Akali at her side.

Shueto and Shuezi both rose, their fury beyond words. The three Xiao'nin could almost feel their chi rise with their anger, as the Blood Moon assassins advanced. The very air seemed alive with the power of their rage. The sibling warrior's eyes were wide with shock, fear, and bloodlust like never before.

The Xiao'nin glanced at each other. They all knew what to do.

"...Good job, Akali." Shen muttered, and he bent closer to her. Kona did the same, shrouding the Vortex of Shadows from sight with their bodies.

"Ready?" Akali whispered, and they all nodded between themselves. Her words were but a platitude. They were ready, all of them, from the moment the set this plan in motion. Then, all three emerged holding the cloth packets they prepared, each the approximate size of the martial arts manual they hid.

"Don't do it." Shueto muttered, his eyes narrowing. He flexed his hand, vividly imagining the feeling of the flesh of children between his fingers. "You little shits."

"Break!" Akali shouted, and each Xiao'nin dashed into the forest, carrying identical bundles into different directions.

"YOU GODDAMNED BRATS!" Shueto roared, and immediately took off after Shen, his hand flexed and his face pale with boundless anger. The man placed a single foot onto the ground, then launched himself bodily after the fleeing junior ninja, trailing blood from his side all the while.

Shuezi turned to follow Kona, her teeth bared and the chase was on.

* * *

><p>They had made it to the cliffs. Shen, Shueto, and Akali had long since cleared the limits of Ing'Xao, now they were running through the forests, every twisted branch and every patch of ice, a potential slip and fall. And even the slightest fall would mean certain death at the hands of Shueto.<p>

Shit- this was bad. They had hoped that the two assassins would have guessed wrong- but Shueto had guessed right, he pursued Shen, who was the one who held the real Vortex of Shadows.

Akali dashed alongside Shen and the pursuing Shueto, who was demolishing any and everything that got in his way. Trees, rocks, or hilltops, it mattered not to the rampaging assassin, though the wound in his side was now shining bright red. Shen leaped over a boulder and Shueto simply charged into the obstacle, stopping him only for a second, before the rock split in two. The man reached down and took the larger, more jagged piece and hurled it like a shot-put at Shen. The boy just barely managed to leap upwards and avoid the makeshift projectile, the knife-like rock sliding past him, before smashing into the frozen waterfall in front of him, releasing freezing water from it's mouth.

Akali dashed into the open, and held up her hand.

"Shen!" Akali yelled. "Pass!"

Shen turned to Akali and gave her a single look.

In the darkness, Akali gave the slightest of twitches, turning her head to the side.

Shen closed his eyes in understanding. Then, he reached and lobbed the parcel across to Akali. The girl reached up and safely caught the cloth sack in a single hand. She then turned to flee, two parcels now in her care. Shen split the other way, but he was already forgotten. Shueto turned his entire body to charge towards Akali.

And so, Akali ran.

* * *

><p>If there was one thing Akali knew how to do, it was how to run. The hundreds, maybe thousands of marathons that her mother made her do punitively was now paying off. That red-robed man might be a master, and he may be faster in short bursts, but there was no one that could match her in long distance. Even in the Kinkou Monastery, though Shen and Zed came close-<p>

This was her sole, lone pride.

She ran and ran and ran. Cutting through the vegetation. Dashing over twisted roots and icy rocks. Any one of those obstacles, a death sentence. Akali gave a fearful glance over her shoulder, and to her shock, saw Shueto keeping up, his hand over his wound, blood soaking his robes. Despite the man's injuries- he could move.

Akali leaped over a small hill, and then stopped in her tracks, her feet sliding against the icy rocks. She stopped, but a few rocks and patches of snow tumbled forwards, off of a sheer cliff. The pebbles and snow were quickly swallowed up by the darkness below. It seemed like an eternity before Akali heard the clattering of rocks against the bottom of the cliff.

She let out a small gasp of relief. That was a long fall.

A great thrashing sound erupted from behind her. Akali spun around, her back to the cliff, and faced the vengeful Shueto to her front. The Blood Moon assassin burst out of the snowy undergrowth, black chi racing up his right arm.

She drew her dagger. She had no choice.

"FOUND YOU!" Shueto roared, then reached outwards with a single hand, and sending his chi rocketing towards Akali.

"Gah!" She yelled- and then felt an unseen force pulling her into the Blood Moon assassin, sending her flying towards him. The Blood Moon assassin turned to his side, and gave Akali a straight kick to the gut. She crumbled like a rag doll.

"...!"

There were no words from Akali. Only a wordless cough, as she collapsed to the ground, wheezing.

"That I would have to use my most powerful techniques on goddamned children..." Shueto snarled, his humiliation mixing with his anger . He made a pulling motion with his hands and with that same invisible force, grabbed at Akali's throat, lifting her upwards, taking her off of her feet. She reached upwards to clutch at her neck, dropping her two parcels.

The packets burst upon hitting the ground.

In side, nothing but rocks.

"Heh... Ha, HAHAHAHA!" Akali laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks. Whether it was from desperation or humor anymore, she didn't know.

Shueto silently released Akali, and bent down to pick up one of the rocks. It was nothing but an ordinary stone. He clenched his hand, crushing the rock to dust.

"Nothing but rocks... so that boy never threw the Vortex to you." Shueto muttered, his eyes wide. He flexed his hand. "It doesn't matter. That boy can't run forever. I'll hunt him down and kill him."

He raised his hand.

"Right after I rip your heart out."

Akali was still laughing, the tears blurring her eyes.

Shueto lunged, and she turned away.

First came out the splattering of blood, the sound of bones snapping like twigs. She felt the blood on her face, warm and sticky.

So this really was the end?

And then there was a flash of violet light, one so bright, she could see it even through her closed eyelids. As it's protective veil shrouded her, she tilted her head upwards in irrational relief. It was comforting. It was warm. It felt like home.

Akali opened her eyes. And then gave an unbidden sob of horror.

"...Shen?" she whispered. "What are you... doing... here?"

Shen had appeared, out of nowhere. Standing in front of her, his body crouched.

The boy turned his head, stiffly, slowly. Every muscle in his body seemed to quiver. His eyes, for the first time in his life, showed real pain.

"So... I... finally managed to perform Father's ultimate move..." He closed his eyes, still shivering. The boy gave a genuine, bloodstained smile. "I'm... glad."

Akali turned her gaze downwards, to her horror.

Shueto's arm had pierced Shen all the way through. The red robed man's hand was covered in gore and blood, his arm straight through Shen's chest. Shen couldn't move. He couldn't even breathe. He had Shueto's arm grasped with both hands in a dead man's grip. The Blood Moon Assassin struggled to free his hand, cursing to no avail.

"Kinkou Becomes One," Shen muttered, a steady stream of blood flowing from his mouth. "And... and the Righteous... will Stand United..."

Shen held his hand out. The two teetered precariously on the lip of the cliff.

"Akali... please..."

She understood.

"Shen..." Akali wanted to sound strong, but her courage didn't reach her voice. Her voice quavered, she couldn't seem to catch her breath, and she was probably crying like the little girl she was. But in her heart, she was never more sure of herself then now. "I'm glad to have met you."

"What are you..." Shueto growled, confused, his breath labored. The wound in his side was no longer red- just dark with blood.

Then Akali ran forwards, and tackled Shueto as hard as she could. All three of them went flying off of the cliff's edge. Shueto swore scarlet bloody murder, Shen closed his eyes, and Akali reached outwards, even in empty space, to grab him.

And then the three of them fell into darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Oooof. What an especially long mini-climax. (around 14000 words) Glad to be headed back towards fallingrising action, I enjoy writing those much more.**


	8. Prison

The skinny, bookish girl fell forwards, panting. She knelt in the mud, in some faraway part of the forest. Blood ran a thick ribbon down the side of her face. Her arm was a mangled ruin. And before her, stood a dainty woman in red, her hands flexed into two wicked claws.

Kona clutched at the wound in her leg, her eyes dull and hopeless. At her side, her decoy parcel laid broken, the rocks scattered about the ground. Her situation was far past desperate.

"...death... ...is..." Shuezi murmured, her eyes downcast. "...too good for you."

Shuezi reached downwards, and gripped Kona by the throat. Slowly, almost gently, she lifted Kona off of her feet. Kona quietly choked in the Blood Moon assassin's grasp. Shuezi stopped only for a moment. She titled her head to draw her lips up to Kona's neck, nipping softly at the girl's flesh.

"...you..." Shuezi whispered. "...taste of... fear..."

Shuezi gave a small gasp in excitement. A ghostly smile crossed her face. She had an excellent idea.

"...you... taste like I once did..."

Shuezi held Kona further up, with one hand, and drew her coffin out from behind her. With a single hand the assassin slammed her coffin into the ground, cracking the lid wide open.

Kona, staring into the coffin, started struggling in earnest, her eyes wide with fear.

"No..." Kona grunted, clawing at the pale hand around her neck, to no avail. Her fingernails dug into the Blood Moon assassin's hand, but the woman's grip did not loosen. "Please..." She whimpered.

Shuezi drew both of her massive twin blades, her precious 'Yulgang', out with a single hand.

The desperate Xiao'nin could only cry. She could feel her death at hand.

"...we..." Shuezi bared her small, white teeth, but she wasn't angry any longer. Only excited. She felt alive. "...shall see..."

Then Shuezi flung Kona spinning into her coffin. The mahogany receptacle closed shut with a slam. Shuezi turned the coffin horizontally, then slammed it into the ground. Drawing both of her blades out, Shuzei drew her chi out, then back into her weapons.

With a silent yell, Shuezi slammed her twin blades into the coffin. Her coffin hungrily consumed every last drop of chi, sucking them deep into the bloody sheath. Slowly, carefully. Like if she was comforting a lover, Shuezi knelt down to stroke the smooth wood of her coffin.

"...are you worthy...?" Shuezi whispered to the coffin, and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Akali opened her eyes, and she could see only white.<p>

_Was this heaven,_ she wondered?

A gruff, old face stepped into her view of white.

Akali deliriously reached out to the face, and the man gently took her hand. His hands felt rough and warm.

"Father?" She whispered. If this was Heaven, it had to be him. Then her eyes started to clear, and the colors of the face shifted and melted, into one she actually recognized.

It was the old monk. But he was clean shaven now, making him look even older. His deep orange robes looked new, and he had on a set of prayer beads that also looked new. The look in his eyes was equal parts grief and joy.

"Praise Buddha." Tripitaka murmured, holding Akali's hands, and then bowed his head. "Child, you're awake."

"...Old monk."

"So you remember me."

"Where... am I?"

Akali sat herself up, wincing with every move she made. She brought her hand to her head, a massive headache beating a tattoo into the inside of her skull.

She looked about. She was in a fairly ordinary room. The place was dark, stank of medicine and blood, and there was a massive pile of bandages piled in the side. Then she caught a glimpse out of the window of her room, and for a moment, doubted her eyes.

This... really could be Heaven.

A stiff mountain breeze floated in from the North, cooling the small room she had been set up in. Out of the window, there rose the view of sweeping, rounded mountain tops, every peak covered in the lush green of forests. And upon the highest peak of them all, was the massive complex around her. Colorful towers painted red, gold and green rose and fell along every slope, every step of the colossal peak. Instead of conquering the slopes and steppes of the mountain, the structures around her seemed to flow with the path of nature.

"Welcome to the Wudang Monastery, Child." Tripitaka said, following her eyes out of the window.

She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, unbidden. She started sniffling, and wiping her eyes.

So... she was safe. But...

"What..." Akali asked between sniffs. She was afraid to ask. "What about Kona?"

Tripitaka gave a quiet pause, and that was the only answer Akali needed to start crying in earnest.

"While we were searching for the Vortex of Shadows, we found you at the bottom of the cliffs. The boy had grabbed onto you and broke your fall." The old monk glanced downwards. "We did not find the girl you were with."

"The boy is in critical condition." Tripitaka continued. "He's lost all of his blood, and his heart has been pierced fully." He sighed, and hung his head. "The temple physician here doesn't know what is keeping him alive."

Akali cried further.

"We did not find your other friend."

"Kona..." She sobbed.

"I'm sorry." The old man muttered. "The only thing I can say is this..."

The monk put a rough hand over Akali's, gripping it tightly.

"What you three had done..." Tripitaka lifted out of his robes, one half of the Warrior Saint's Codex, the little black book that had caused Akali so much suffering. Tripitaka laid the Vortex of Shadows before Akali, and bowed deeply to her.

For an elderly man and legendary master of martial arts, to be bowing to her... "You have saved us all. Bless all three of you."

Akali could only muster up one word.

"Shen." She said, her eyes red-rimmed, and her breath short and shallow.

Tripitaka raised his head, then nodded in understanding.

"I will take you to him. Can you walk?"

Akali shifted to the edge of the bed, and stood, taking the sheets around her with her. She wrapped the bed sheets about her like a robe, and shuffled to the door, her eyes downcast.

The old monk's eyes watched her carefully as she strode out. Then he silently got up and followed her.

* * *

><p>She was looking at a corpse.<p>

Standing in a low room of the Wudang monastery, Akali watched a small swarm of doctor and nurses at work.

Three nuns with white cloths wrapped around their faces worked tirelessly around the young man's body, constantly changing the shallow pool of water that he floated in. Their hands dipped in with their wooden buckets, constantly pouring in fresh water and changing out the water that had grown cold. The water smelled faintly of lilies, but as Akali watched the nuns at work, she could see them mixing in countless oils, flowers and substances she couldn't name.

To the side, Akali recognized the body of the Blood Moon Assassin that had been chasing them. Left ignored on the side of the room, the fearful man looked calmer in death. His eyes were closed, and his snarl was returned to a peaceful, neutral state.

And in the center of it all, Shen floated. His chin up, his skin pale and white. A ragged hole was buried in his chest, leaving an empty void where his heart should be.

"He's dead." Akali stated flatly, choking back a sob.

Tripitaka turned his head to face the doctor overseeing Shen, a grim, short, old man with a mask on like the nuns at work. The elderly physician shook his head.

"The boy is..." The doctor gave a frustrated sigh, and muttered under his breath. "It is easier just to show you."

The doctor held out his hand, and a fourth nun stepped forwards to hand him a small vial of violet liquid.

"This is just a dye," the doctor reassured Akali, before dumping the contents of the vial into the hole where Shen's heart should be.

Before her eyes, Akali could see the violet liquid swirl in place, twisting into many colorful ribbons. The doctor held his hand out at the spectacle.

"His heart is gone- but the flow of chi is still there. It is like..." The doctor twirled his hand towards his head, trying to find the right words. "Like his heart is simply... not here."

"So you what you're saying," Tripitaka interjected, his arms crossed. "Is that his heart is somewhere else entirely?"

"Yes... this is possible with teleportation martial arts skills that has been improperly completed, or perhaps interrupted or attacked halfway through-"

"Shen..." Akali said, her eyes still downcast. But there was more focus to her look now. "He appeared out of nowhere... to take a hit for me."

Akali closed her eyes, trying to remember. "There was the sound of bones breaking... I felt blood... and then there was... purple light."

"Purple light and sudden appearance...that sounds like Master Khen's signature move." Tripitaka said, leaning forwards. "That young man managed to perform Kinkou Monastery's legendary 'Unity of the Righteous'?"

"Shen was brilliant." Akali said.

"He still is." The old monk insisted.

She bit her lip.

"I... can't watch this." Akali turned her head, and nearly ran out of the healing room.

Hidden above in the rafters of the medical room, the Wudang guards spying on her glanced at each other, before silently pursuing the young ninja and her monk guardian.

* * *

><p>"War is coming." Tripitaka said, standing with Akali out in an open-air square. The many mountain valleys gathering the wind into a cold, rising torrent from below. "You have done us immeasurable good by keeping the Vortex of Shadows out of the Blood Moon Sect's hands." Tripitaka sighed. "But it is still not enough."<p>

"What do you know, child... about the Five Great Sects?"

"...Just their names." Akali glanced moodily off of the square's edge.  
>"The Beggar's Sect to the North," Tripitaka listed. "The Shojin Sect to the South. The Five Poisons Sect to the West, and the Peach Blossom Island to the East." He placed his rough hands on the stone fence of the square edge. "And here, the Wudang Sect of the Center."<p>

"Three good, two evil." Akali muttered.

"So you do know."

"...Shen taught me." The junior ninja seemed to be staring a thousand yards out. "I relied on my friends so much. And now they're both going to be dead."

Tripitaka paused, before continuing.

"By the efforts of the three righteous sects of Ionia, we have managed to suppress the efforts of Peach Blossom Island and the Five Poisons Sect." He chewed his lip. "But with the appearance of the Blood Moon Sect, the scales are now evenly balanced. The Righteous of Ionia can no longer simultaneously protect the common folk and hold back the ambitions of evil. "

"...So?"

"That means open warfare." Tripitaka rolled his fingers on the stone of the fence. The wind was starting to pick up again. "Ionia will bleed. And all because of Duyuan. And he, because of me.

"I... came here once, many years ago." Tripitaka seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "I came here with Duyuan, the man who would later become the Elder of the Blood Moon Sect."

"The Shojin Monastery was being threatened by a vicious group of bandits known as the 72 Demons." Tripitaka closed his eyes in remembrance. "The Shojin had suffered many casualties from these bandits, and our brother's butchered bodies were displayed after every battle at our Monastery's doorstep..."

* * *

><p><em>Twenty years ago...<em>

_The Wudang received their Shojin brethren with courtesy and respect, if not with warmth. _

_Within the central halls of Zixiao Palace, the largest building housed in the complex that made up the Wudang Monastery, the stone-faced Taoists, clad in cold blue and grey, stared suspiciously at the two Shojin monks before them. Dressed in brilliant vermilion and gold, the diametrically opposed Buddhists knelt before the Elder of the Wudang sect, their hands clasped and their heads bowed. _

"_I am sorry," The Wudang Elder murmured in reply to their request. "But we cannot open our martial libraries to the Shojin."_

_Upon hearing the Elder's answer, one of the monk, the younger one, leaped to his feet, shouting angrily and pointing rudely at the sect leader before them._

"_Duyuan!" A younger Tripitaka yelled, turning his head to shout at his sworn brother. "Manners!"_

"_To hell with manners!" Duyuan snarled, his teeth grinding, turning his righteous fury from the stoic Wudang Elder before them to his sworn brother at his side. "Innocent souls are dying! Our Shojin brothers are dying! But these... Taoist pigs! Would let our brothers die like animals!"_

"_DUYUAN!" Tripitaka nearly screamed. "WE ARE GUESTS HERE!"_

_The elderly man seated in the center of the room held up his hand. His only hand. And at his gesture, both of the monks immediately stopped arguing. One monk, his eyes bowed in deep, sorrowful apology. And the other monk, his youthful eyes blazing angrily at the elder martial arts master before him._

_The Wudang Elder shifted in his seat, prompting his subordinates to run to his aid, but the man waved them off, the empty sleeve where his right arm should be, flapping as he stood._

_Stepping down from his humble throne, the man known as the Immortal Yang approached the kneeling Shojin._

"_We value our friendship with the Shojin greatly," The Wudang Elder stated."And the suffering of your brothers and the commoners under your protection pains us just as greatly."_

_The old man sighed._

"_But within our libraries house many forbidden and dangerous martial arts scripts. We cannot open those secrets under any circumstances." The Wudang Elder bowed his head in apology, drawing immediate protests from his subordinates that his honored self needed to do no such thing. The martial arts master ignored the cries of his sect, instead continuing his charity. "We will divert our next cycle of patrols dedicated to suppressing Peach Blossom Island to march to the Shojin's aid."_

"_Tourists and sightseers," Duyuan snarled, eliciting a sharp look from Tripitaka. "How many will die before your 'patrols' reach our lands?! Huh?! Just how much will your men do for our people?!"_

_Stepping in front of his sworn brother, Tripitaka knelt to the Wudang Elder, clasping his hands in thanks._

"_We graciously accept your assistance in combating these '72 Demons', and I deeply apologize for my subrodinate's passion. The losses our Monastery has suffered have distressed us all." Tripitaka stated, before rising and nearly dragging his rebellious friend out of the central halls._

_As the two monks half-walked, half-marched out of Zixiao Palace, a servant stepped forwards to offer a room key and two warm blankets._

"_The honorable Immortal Yang has invited the righteous Shojin envoys to spend the night within the monastery halls." The servant bowed to the two Shojin monks, Tripitaka nodding in thanks, Duyuan ignoring the offer. _

_As soon as the servant was out of sight, Tripitaka wheeled on his friend._

"_What was that!?" Tripitaka yelled. "How could you be so disrespectful to friends who have welcomed us as guests?! You have brought us... great dishonor!" His outburst echoed into the empty mountain valleys around them._

_The elder monk expected Duyuan to argue, shout, and reply in kind- but instead, the younger monk only hung his head in shame. _

"_I'm sorry, Xuanzang." The monk sighed. The young man fell, putting his back against a wall. He placed both hands over his smooth, hairless head. "I messed up."_

_At the sight of his young friend's remorse, Tripitaka put a reassuring hand on the monk's shoulder._

"_It was a long shot anyways." Tripitaka said as a matter of fact. _

"_So many of our brothers, dead..." Duyuan muttered, his eyes downcast. "Butchered like dogs by those 72 Demons... how can we go back to them empty handed?"_

_Tripitaka sighed. He reached over to put his friend under his arm. The two Shojin monks trudged back to their quarters, dejected. _

"_I don't know, Duyuan. But we'll figure out something."_

* * *

><p>He had been talking for a while. The wind felt too cold, and the sun felt too hot, but Akali didn't care, and she didn't think the old monk did either.<p>

"Then, in the middle of the night," Tripitaka murmured to Akali, staring out at the forest-clad mountains before them. Akali, who hadn't been listening particularly closely, was now silent, following each word from the monk intently. Something in the old monk's words... helped her with her grief. The old man was a decent raconteur.

"I then heard the many sounds of shouting men, and a great raucous knocking at my room's door."

* * *

><p><em>The room was too fancy, and the bed too soft for an acsetic man of Buddha like Tripitaka, but he indulged himself that one night. It would be a long ride back to the Shojin Monastery. And he dreaded to see who among his brothers would be dead when they got back.<em>

_Then a sharp rapping cut into the night. Tripitaka sat up to get the door, but before he could reply, the sliding door cut open, and three Monastery guards marched in._

"_Amitabha-" Tripitaka started at this unexpected intrusion, but the Taoist guards ignored his greeting._

"_You monk. Come with us," The man ordered. The guard put a single hand on his sword, the action finishing the sentence for him. You don't have a choice, is what his gesture said._

_The monk studied the guards carefully. Then, nodding, Tripitaka rose and silently walked past the Wudang guards, their suspicious eyes watching his every step._

* * *

><p><em>Tripitaka knelt in the center hall of Zixiao palace, carefully scanning those around him. Many of the same high-ranking Wudang he had glimpsed once stood there once more, but compared to this afternoon, their faces were colder, their stares fiercer. Tripitaka felt a pit dig in his stomach at the sight. <em>

_The elder monk turned his gaze to the Wudang Elder, who sat as he did in the hours previous. But the martial arts master seemed grimmer, quieter. There was a shadow to the man's face that did not bode well. _

"_Here's the rogue!" The captain of the Wudang guard, a sharp, intense looking woman, marched into the central hall, followed closely by three men. Two guards dragging one captive by the arms. To his horror, Tripitaka recognized the man being carried between the two Wudang._

"_Duyuan?" Tripitaka muttered, as his watched his sworn brother be thrown, sprawling in front of him. The younger monk got to his knees, clutching at his head. His face was dark and purple with bruises, and several of his fingers looked broken from the beating he had taken. But despite his injuries, there was an insane smile plastered on the monk's face. _

"_A-Amitabha..." Duyuan greeted, mumbling with a mouth full of blood and broken teeth. "Brother Xuanzang."_

"_...Duyuan..." Tripitaka whispered, horrified. "What have you done?"_

"_Only... what was necessary... Xuanzang." Duyuan fell forwards and laid his head sideways against the cold stone of Zixiao Palace, cooling his injuries against the carved rock. He spit out a shard of tooth and blood._

_Then, before Duyuan, two Wudang marched in, and laid a flat plate out, averting their eyes from their package. On it, a large, thick battered scroll laid. The inscriptions on the scroll read out:_

"_真武__劍法__"_

_ The Warrior Saint Codex._

"_Immortal Elder Yang," The Wudang Captain said, clasping her hands in respect. "We discovered this thief intruding in our sacred libraries tonight. He had his filthy hands on this."_

_The woman gestured towards the Warrior Saint Codex laid out before them. The blood seal had been torn at, freeing a single page of what looked to be demonic cuneiform._

_Duyuan's smile grew even wider._

"_That's a strong seal. It took me hours of chi injection to open just a single page."_

"_Master!" The Wudang Captain stated, nearly shouted over the inane ramblings of the monks below them. "It is clear to me that these two Shojin monks from the very start came to steal the Wudang's martial secrets. They may even be impostors!" Her eyes narrowed. "I recommend an immediate execution."_

_Duyuan turned on his back, laughing, oblivious to the mortal danger he was in._

_The Wudang Elder tilted his head, facing the kneeling Tripitaka. _

"_This one doesn't look like he had any idea." He held his hand up, bidding Tripitaka to speak. "What do you have to say in your defense?"_

_Tripitaka could only gape. This couldn't be real._

"_I..." Tripitaka bent low, low to the ground, resting his head on the stone floor. "Please, honorable master. Forgive us for our sins. Our brothers have suffered so much at the hands of evil. Brother Duyuan- he violated your sacred trust and commited many grievous sins, but he did so out of love. Love of his brothers and love of peace in Ionia."_

"_He lies, master!" The Wudang Captain snarled. "Please, do not let his words poison you!"_

"_It is as Captain Sang here says," The Wudang Elder murmured. "Our trust in you has been tainted. Your words seem sincere, but so did your friend's earlier today. Furthermore..."_

_The Wudang Elder stepped forwards, his cane clacking noisily on the smooth stone floor. The elderly man's storied eyes scanned over the torn page of the Warrior Saint Codex. Tripitaka thought he saw the man's body shiver. _

"_What your friend has done is worse than violate our trust. The Warrior Saint Codex is more than a powerful martial arts manual. Improper study of its instructions, though will still yield great power, causes mortal chi imbalances, madness, and even death. And even worse beyond that... the dark half of the Warrior Saint Codex hold instructions to unleash even greater evil than itself upon the world than itself."_

_The elder closed his eyes._

"_These words were not to be read by Man. They are powerful, but corrupting without exception. For the good of Ionia, I should execute you two right here and now."_

_An overwhelming chi started to flow from the Wudang Elder. He, a four-hundred year old man; a student of the Warrior Saint himself. He, a man who tamed dragons and slew demons, who achieved immortality from his mastery of Taoist principles. This man was letting his righteous killing intent flow into the monk before him. _

"_Tell me, young ones. Why shouldn't I kill you two right here?"_

_Tripitaka's breath grew shallow. _

"_I... " Tripitaka closed his eyes, as he did some many hundreds of times has he did in the Shojin Monastery. He muttered a silent, wordless prayer to Buddha. "I have been a Shojin monk all of my life. For three decades now, though I know such a time seems like the blink of an eye to a great man such as you, I have dedicated my life to Buddha."_

_The Taoists around Tripitaka started to grind their teeth and mutter angrily at Tripitaka's open expression of their differences in faith. But the Wudang Elder stayed silent, still watching the monk speak._

"_Do you believe I am, true and fully, a man of Shojin?" Tripitaka asked to the Wudang Elder directly._

_The elderly master didn't reply. He didn't move. Only after a very long while of silent staring did the one-armed man finally give Tripitaka the nod that he needed._

_Tripitaka sighed. This would have to work._

"_Then you understand the severity of this action."_

_Tripitaka stood, prompting the many Wudang around him to draw their weapons, their naked swords gleaming in the moonlight. But the Shojin monk ignored their advances. He shrugged off one side of his orange kasaya, exposing the Curling Dragon. The irrevocable mark and proof of his honor as a Shojin._

_Then he reached up to his shoulder, and drew his hand back, carving at the tattoo. Tripitaka screamed. The Wudang all took a step back from the gruesome scene._

_Then with a final yell, Tripitaka tore the flesh of his Curling Dragon tattoo off. There was only blood where the mark of the Shojin was inked._

_There was great pain and suffering, but not of the body._

_Tripitaka fell to his knees, sobbing. The entire hall was silent, except for the sounds of Tripitaka's grief. The pain of the flesh was little. But the pain of his pride as a Shojin-_

"_I... take responsibility for the sins of my younger monk... I... in penance, renounce my title of follower of Buddha, disciple of the Shojin monastery." Tripitaka muttered, through tears. "I was the one who brought my sworn brother here. I will bear the burden of his sin. Kill me, if you wish. But let my sworn brother go."_

_The Wudang Elder paused. Then, the elderly man closed his eyes._

"_I believe you, honorable monk. I will spare your lives."_

_The Wudang Elder then turned to Duyuan, who had stopped smiling. Now the insane monk was only staring quietly at the elderly master advancing on him._

_The Wudang Elder held his hand out, and a squire stepped forwards, a massive iron blade clutched with both hands. The elder took the massive sword into his only hand; he lifted the blade upwards with ease._

"_But we cannot let this one leave with the madness of the Warrior Saint Codex within him. We must disable his kung-fu by severing his tendons and breaking his bones. He cannot leave with the power of the Vortex of Shadows intact."_

_The Wudang Elder raised his sword._

"_Over my dead body." Duyuan said, with a bored, detached look._

_Then, Duyuan burst upwards, somehow his injuries vanished, and thrust a wicked claw at the elder. The Wudang Elder sidestepped the surprise attack, but now the elderly man's eyes were wide and blazing with fury._

_The young monk's fingers, missed, but the claws of his shadow did not. The Wudang Elder took a glancing hit from a dark clone of the young monk that had risen from the Shojin's shadow. _

"_Thanks for buying me time, Xuanzang." The young monk grinned, and Tripitaka stared into his sworn brother's eyes with horror. The elder monk could see the madness set in. "The Warrior Saint Codex- I figured out its secrets already."_

"_You!" The Wudang Captain shouted, her sword already whistling through the air. But Duyuan simply caught the sword in his hands, and thrust deeply with his other hand into her chest. From there came the sound of bones shattering. Duyuan lowered his hand, the sword in his grasp, and shattered the silver blade with a single snap of his hands._

_A dark clone spawned behind her, its arms of smoke already wrapped around the woman's neck._

"_Goodbye, sweetheart." Duyuan said. The voice was no longer his. The shadow tightened its grip, ready to snap the Wudang captain's neck._

"_FAH!" The Wudang Elder shouted, sweeping his massive iron blade to the side, sending a shockwave of chi and wind rocking through Zixiao Palace's hall. Bells rang and clattered to the ground, their chains broken, every candle within the palace instantly blew out from the force._

_Duyuan's shadows couldn't stand up to the force. Each turned to try to resist the shockwave, but one by one, they blew out like candles in the wind. Alone once again, Duyuan wheeled towards the Wudang elder, the first inklings of fear starting to show in the young monk's eyes._

"_Haaa..." Duyuan smiled. His eyes took on a new light of interest. Shadows started to bleed off of the young monk's body, his chi already intensified to visibility. "Interesting. Come at me then-"_

"_Duyuan!" Tripitaka shouted, his knees on the floor. "Please- stop this madness!"_

_Duyuan turned to his former sworn brother. His old self was long lost in the insanity of the Warrior Saint Codex's power, but for only a second, Tripitaka saw the kind man that Duyuan once was._

"_Shojin Monastery is safe." Duyuan said as a matter of fact. He smiled a true, genuine smile to his friend. The last one Tripitaka would ever see from his sworn brother. Then the insanity returned, Duyuan turned his back to the Wudang Elder, and dashed outside, smashing his way past the Wudang who tried to stop him._

_The Wudang Elder immediately shot after the rogue monk, followed by his elite guard. A number of Wudang nearby stepped forwards to restrain Tripitaka. The elder monk, his shoulder still bleeding, his robes soaked with blood, watched his sworn brother, his best friend, flee into the darkness of the night._

* * *

><p>"That was the last I ever saw of my sworn brother," Tripitaka said to Akali, his tale nearly finished. "The other Wudang wanted to execute me right then and there." A tired, grim smile crossed Tripitaka's face. "Twenty years later, some still do. But the Wudang Elder intervened on my behalf. He saved my unworthy life then."<p>

"And you've been tracking your friend ever since."

"I had renounced the Shojin. With no more home, no more purpose- I deigned to serve penance for my since by undoing my wrongs." Tripitaka closed his eyes in shame. "I failed. First, the 72 Demons were wiped out to a man. Next, a trail of blood over many years, some evil, some righteous, some innocent, bled its way across Ionia, twisting and winding all the way into the central mountains, where I finally lost him."

Akali sighed and turned back towards the view before them.

"You've done a lot already, old monk." Akali turned her eyes downwards. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"And you as well, little one." The old monk smiled. "You and your friends have done more than I had in twenty years."

"But its still not enough." Akali turned her eyes downwards. "Kona... is dead. Shen, soon."

"...Perhaps not."

Akali raised her head. She turned to face the old monk.

"Four hundred years ago this monastery was constructed over the Tomb of the Warrior Saint." Tripitaka tilted his head up, continuing. His words were slow and pondering, like he seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "It is said to house a river that constantly flows with a medicinal water that can restore all injury and prolong life indefinitely."

"That's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible for Buddha."

"How?" Akali stated. "How can I get there?"

"...The way is open to you, little one. There is a cave behind the waterfall coming from the mouth of Xuan'wu at the base of the complex. But you will have to fight to get there."

"Fight?"

"Yes. Because as you will soon see..." Tripitaka turned, smiled, and placed a single foot on the top of the stone fence around them. "We are not guests here at Wudang Monastery."

Before Akali could even blink, a mass of blurs shot out from their hiding places, landing violently around them. Half a dozen black-robed Wudang guards drew their swords, leveling them at Tripitaka's neck. Three more crossed their swords around Akali's neck, forming a bladed collar that would take her head off if she so much as twitched.

"We are prisoners." Tripitaka finished, surrounded by their Wudang captors.

* * *

><p><em>It was many, many years ago. The bandits that had been threatening the small, snow-clad Ionian village were dead. Nearly all of the villagers, too. Dead in the snow, their blood staining the snow scarlet.<em>

_And the man once called Duyuan stood over two children shivering in the snow. The brother was clutching his younger sister, crying with fear and rage. Their parents laid dead in the snow in front on them, killed by the insane monk._

_And the monk had been transformed. His hair was long, unkempt. He had not shaved in what felt like years. His eyes were starting to take on a bloodied, red color from his frequent bouts of irrational rage._

_The destroyed village, the massacre bandits and civilians alike- victims of one of those bloody bouts. The single page of the Vortex of Shadows, though the whispers of demons had strengthened his kung-fu beyond anything he had ever dreamed of, the evil manual had long since poisoned his mind._

_The ragged man stared for a long, long while at the children. Tao, the elder, turned and screamed at the villain before them:_

"_What are you waiting for?! Coward!" Tao put Tse's tear-stained face into his shoulder. The ten-year old sobbed, ready to die right there with the rest of his family. "Just kill us already!"_

_Slowly, silently, the insane monk shook his head. He lifted the coffin he had dragged all the way from Southern Ionia. The coffin was the trademark of leader of the 72 Demons- now it was the insane monk's trophy._

"_For... the glory of the Three Dark Gods." _

_Duyuan slammed the coffin down, cracking the lid open._

_Tao screamed, as the mad monk grabbed him and Tse by the their clothes, and threw them bodily into the coffin, laughing the entire time. He slammed the coffin shut, trapping the two siblings within the wooden casket, then placed a palm of black chi over the lid, saturating the container._

_Dark smoke covered the casket, white snow started to cover the bloody bodies of Shueto and Shuezi's former parents, and all was washed away, so many snowy years ago._


	9. Dragon

The young ninja and the old monk sat together in a dark, windowless room, somewhere deep with the Wudang complex. Akali hung her head, sitting on the only bed stuffed with straw, while Tripitaka sat cross-legged in his own corner, quietly meditating.

"...Why?" Akali finally asked, after what seemed like forever. "Why are we trapped here?"

"...They fear you."

"What?! Why?"

Tripitaka opened his eyes carefully.

"They fear you because you have come in contact with the Vortex of Shadows. They fear you, because they fear you may become the next Duyuan. Just one look, and..." Tripitaka fixed Akali with his most serious stare yet. "Have you? Glimpsed any of the Vortex of Shadows, I mean?"

"No... at least, I don't think so."

"Then you are still alright, dear child." Tripitaka sighed with relief. "But that will not be enough to convince our righteous captors. They have learned too well from their mistakes twenty years ago."

"Is that why I wasn't taken back to the Kinkou? Is that why I haven't seen my mother!?" Akali clenched her teeth, and she leaned forwards, holding back tears. "Just because they're afraid?! I'm the one who should be afraid!" Akali fell to her knees, pounding the cold stone floor. "AND I AM!"

Tripitaka sighed. He rest his head against the cool wood of the walls around him. He laid the back of his hand against the floor below.

"Do you want to escape, young one?"

Akali calmed down at this, and lowered her head.

"Yes."

"Do you want to help your friend?"

"Of course."

"Then I can help you flee this prison. You will have head straight for the Tomb of the Living Dead if you are to have any chance of making it."

At the monk's offer, Akali seemed to withdraw within herself. She lowered her head further.

"...Why are you doing this, old monk?"

"Pardon?"

"Telling me all of these stories. Telling me where to look to cure Shen. Helping me so much. Why?"

"...Because I like you, kid." Tripitaka sighed a bit before speaking once more. "And because you remind me of Duyuan. A lot."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"Akali muttered, frowning slightly. She didn't know what to think at being compared to the man who mauled her mother.

"It means I want to do right by you, little one. I failed Duyuan, in many ways. And people died and suffered for it." Tripitaka raised his head a bit, staring intently at the junior ninja before him. "When I look at you, when I see how you move; how you act. I feel like I'm looking at Duyuan's reincarnation, before his Fall. I have this premonition that if I could only support you, the karma of the world would fall back into balance."

"Thanks, but you're a little old for me," Akali muttered.

"You jest, but I see this world of blood and death predicated on you. Even if you don't." Tripitaka held his hand out. "Will you accept my help, little one?"

Akali sat for a long while. Then, after a length of silence, she held out her hand, and took the old monk's fingers in her grasp. Tripitaka smiled at this. He then drew out his other hand, glowing like the sun, radiant with holy chi.

"Then you should be on your way."

And then the Shojin monk slammed his palm into the stone floor below him, shattering the rock like glass.

* * *

><p>The Wudang Elder marched, his empty sleeve fluttering behind him, his face grim. He was followed closely by his elite guard, while his Captain of the Guard desperately tried to argue him out of meeting the outcast Shojin monk.<p>

"Master Elder!" The middle aged woman spoke, "This man has twice betrayed our Wudang sect, and twice let chaos roam about our sacred grounds! Do you remember what happened the last time we gave him leniency? I still do! I have the scars to prove it! And you would still show this man clemency after so many offenses-"

"Enough, Sang." The Wudang Elder spoke, and his subordinate obeyed, shutting up immediately. They rounded the corner, and found the door to the dark room where Akali and Tripitaka were held.

The Wudang Elder reached forwards with his only hand, and carefully opened the door. He found the monk sitting before him, a hole broken into the floor beneath. It had been a full five minutes before one of the guards had noticed Akali missing, and sounded the alarm. A full five minutes of freedom that Tripitaka had bought her.

"Immortal Yang," Tripitaka greeted, bowing his head deeply. "It is good to see you again."

"What is the meaning of this, monk?" The Wudang Elder murmured, staring down the outcast Shojin before him with his sharp, careful eyes. "Twenty years ago, we have shown you clemency after your friend's betrayal. A few days ago we have been generous enough to let you accompany the young ninjas to our complex. Would you betray our trust a second time?" The Elder master blinked. "Even Buddha will only forgive you three times. And I am no saint, young monk."

"The young girl wants to save her friend," Tripitaka laughed quietly to himself. "Young love, I think."

"So you sent her to the Tomb of the Living Dead?"

"I sent her to find her destiny, honored Immortal."

"You send her to her death. Out of hundreds of bandits, heroes, and martial masters who ventured into that Tomb, none have ever returned. _Long'Er_ saw to that."

"Out of hundreds of martial masters, honored Immortal Yang, how many have heeded the Tomb's warning?" Tripitaka leaned forwards, his eyes gleaming. "'Enter the Tomb of the Living Dead. The Righteous, the Evil, the Powerful all shall die.'"

"'Only those with a heart of Purity may enter.'" The Wudang Elder finished. "So you think that little girl will survive? You believe the child to be pure?"

Tripitaka closing his eyes in contemplation. Then, he nodded once.

"I believe in her."

* * *

><p>She managed to slip through most of the Wudang Monastery undetected. Her stealth training was really starting to show. Staying to the shadows of the many corridors of the Wudang complex, she slipped by countless Taoist disciples cutting their way across the monastery ground, off to the common areas, to their studies, or to their martial practice halls. She had never felt more grateful for her Kinkou training than she did right now.<p>

Akali knelt down in a open-air corridor connecting two rather empty buildings. She glanced around the corner, sighting a dark doorway, and beyond that, the light of the courtyard she was looking for, nested behind the building.

She slipped forwards, keeping low to the ground, and then ducked into what looked like a kitchen. As soon as she did, great shout erupted from behind her. She poked her head back out to see what all the commotion was about.

Five Wudang disciples on the balcony above her had grown agitated. They seemed to be arguing among themselves. She saw that many of them had drawn their weapons, and behind them, many more guards were running through rooms, clearing each and every one of them one by one, in pairs or in teams.

They were searching for her.

So the Wudang had finally seen through their ruse. Well, the old monk couldn't buy her time forever. Akali slipped back inside the kitchen. She poked a head over a counter-top. There was no one there. Only the abandoned kitchenware of the Wudang's kitchen, and scraps of meat and vegetables left forgotten. The coast looked clear.

She ducked around a corner of a table to move for the door.

And then she froze, when a sharp, woman's voice cut into the room.

"Going somewhere?"

The Wudang Captain stepped into the kitchen on the other side of the room, flanked on either side by guards. The sharp, intense looking woman glared at Akali, advancing slowly.

Akali glanced at her exit. It remained open.

"I don't blame you for wanting to escape, little ninja." Captain Sang drummed her fingers over the hilt of her blade, the tense woman's eyes as narrow as slits. "So I'll be lenient. Come with us and things could end well for you. Otherwise..."

Akali didn't have to be a mind reader to finish that sentence. She turned to make a break for the door. She was closer, she could get there first-

"Wrong choice." Captain Sang growled, then kicked the kitchen's table, sending the massive wooden counter sliding at Akali. It slammed into Akali in the side, sending her sprawling into a nearby wall.

"Guh!"

In an instant, Captain Sang was over her, a thin sword at the Xiao'nin's throat.

"It's all over now, little ninja." The woman reached down to pin one of Akali's arms behind her back. "Just come quietly."

Was this really the end? Akali thought, clenching her hand. The junior ninja thought of Shen, left nearly for dead in the halls above her. She thought of Kona, who she would never see again-

She grit her teeth, and clawed at the ground below her.

Never.

She would not be so weak again.

A dull headache was starting to grow behind her eyes, swelling and blossoming into a splitting ache. The pain was almost enough to make her black out, but there was something else with the pain. It was power. There was always strength within her- she just needed the right words to unlock that strength, she realized.

Dark smoke started to rise from her right arm. That new-found strength started to grow.

Never again.

Akali reached upwards with her free hand to grab Captain Sang by the woman's hair.

"What the-" The Wudang Captain could only mutter a short curse, before Akali exploded upwards, flinging the middle-aged woman over her shoulder with unnatural strength.

"Fah!" She yelled.

"Gah!" The hapless captain slammed into a wall full of metal pots and pans. The iron cookware fell clattering to the ground.

Her guards immediately sprang into action, but Akali was already moving. She sprinted towards the door, gathering pots and pans as she ran and as quickly as she grabbed them, sent them flying towards the guards. The metal projectiles slowed the guards, as they shielded themselves from the onslaught.

Akali burst through a bamboo-screen door to reach the outside. And then she was free.

She could see the massive statue of _Xuan'wu_ just across the courtyard from her. Nearly twenty meters tall, the deity that took the dual form of a snake coiling around a turtle was forever immortalized as a monument in the Wudang's center courtyard, surrounded by a shallow water pool, painstakingly kept landscaping and clean, washed stone tiles.

She jumped down, with a small army of Wudang now in hot pursuit. As she neared the statue of _Xuan'wu_, the many guards chasing after her started to slow. Strange, she thought, but she would take it.

She darted around the hedges framing the courtyard, and found herself before the mouth of _Xuan'wu._ The turtle's mouth was open and gaping—loosing a waterfall that fell a dozen feet high. There could easily be a cave entrance behind there. Akali leaped into the pool surrounding the statue of Xuan'wu to wade towards the waterfall's entrance.

But still... it was strange that such an important place wouldn't be sealed off. She turned, and saw that the Wudang had, one and all, stopped at the edge of the pool, their swords drawn, but their arms stayed. They were all watching her intently. Not with anger, or frustration. But with fear.

What was keeping them from chasing her?

Akali pushed the concerns out of her mind, and stepped into the waterfall's torrent. The ice-cold water beating over her shoulder made her gasp, but she soldiered through, eventually finding herself, standing, dripping wet, at the entrance to a dark, cold corridor. The stones were slick and damp from the waterfall outside, but the inside was not as dark as she was expecting. Kinkou were trained to be able to see in low-light, and the light from inside the Xuan'wu statue, though not much, was more than enough for a Kinkou to find her way through.

Akali took a few steps, before she saw the shadowy figure, standing in her way. The man in the shadows spoke.

"Stop."

Akali wasted no time with pleasantries. She charged forwards, jumped up, turned in the air, and gave the unknown man in front of her the strongest kick she could, putting the full weight of her body behind her outstretched heel.

"FAH!" She yelled, but the man turned her kick aside with a single hand, his palm turning ever-so slightly to cup the force of her strike.

Akali continued her barrage, trying every kick, every sweep, everytrick she knew in the book, but as she fought, with every easy block from the robed man, with every easy sidestep he made, she started to confirm her worst fears.

She had never seen the man in person before, but she could easily guess who he was. The sheets of snow-white hair hanging past his shoulders, the empty sleeve flapping at his right-hand side. And his eyes- once full of kindness, now darkened by endless cycles of sadness and serenity.

It was the Wudang Elder, cutting her off. Despite the man's missing right arm, he fought with a strength and grace that even Master Khen couldn't match. Akali had never sparred with anyone as masterful as the Wudang Elder, two arms or no.

The Wudang Elder's only hand lashed out, sweeping past Akali, drawing her movements into the negative space of his motions. She could feel herself be sucked into the old man's rhythm, his hand trapping her actions with every step of their intricate dance. As they danced, she felt almost like she wasn't in control of her body any more.

Then, with a sudden shift, the Wudang Elder broke the trance. He grabbed onto Akali's shoulder, and a small push, she was sent spinning. She tried to steady herself, but the Wudang Elder was already behind her, his sole palm pressed up against the small of her back.

What was he-

He barely moved, but it felt like he took a sledgehammer to her back.

"AGH!"

Akali fell forwards as if she had been rammed, coughing. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the cloth of the Wudang Elder's shoes waiting by her eyes. Akali was totally at this man's mercy. There was no way to escape the grand master, not if he didn't want her to.

Akali slowly got to her feet, and the elderly man let her. Once she was up, staggered, and still coughing, the Wudang Elder stepped forwards, leaning on his cane, fixing Akali with an intent stare. The junior ninja shivered, though not from the cold. She shivered from the weight of the Wudang Elder's presence.

"I have heard from Captain Sang that you have the sickness of the Vortex of Devouring Shadows."

Akali swallowed nervously. So that's what that unknown strength was.

She glanced down at her right arm once more. Would more smoke come out if she needed it?

"You seek your own health?" The Wudang Elder asked, his eyes narrowing. "Do you think that the Holy Waters of the Tomb of the Living Dead will cure your sickness of the mind?"

"No-" That headache was getting worse. Akali reached up to clutch her head. The motion was not lost on the Wudang Elder. He narrowed his eyes, but continued to speak. "I'm doing this for Shen."

"You do this for love?"

"No..." Akali shook her head. "Shen has saved my life. More times than I count. Why shouldn't I help him?"

"Then honor?"

"I... I don't know." Akali sighed. "All I know is that I have to do this."

"No one has ever passed where I stand and return to tell the tale." The Wudang Elder tapped his cane on the smooth stone floor. "Not for four hundred years. Do you understand, child?"

"That's fine." Akali bit her lip. "I'll just have to be the first in four hundred years."

"You will fail. Enter further, and you will die just like dozens of others over the centuries."

"That's... that's fine" Akali blinked. "I don't own my life anymore. What breath that I have, I owe it to my friends. I owe it to my Order."

The Wudang Elder raised his head further, staring down at Akali. It seemed like the old man's eyes could see right through her. As she stared into the master's eyes, she could sense his disbelief. Her uncertainty was mirrored in the dark pools of the Wudang Elder's eyes.

"No..." Akali muttered, shaking her head. "That's not right. I owe this..." She sighed again. "I owe this to myself. Please."

The Wudang Elder nodded at the junior ninja's honesty. That was the answer he was looking for. The Wudang Elder stepped to the side, tapping his cane as he shifted.

"Old man..." Akali sighed in relief. "Thank you."

She raised her hands to clasp them in respect, but somehow... it just felt wrong for her. She instead changed tack; stepping up quickly to surprise the Wudang Elder with a quick hug. It was almost more for her courage than his thanks. The teenage girl then darted past the Wudang Elder, running deeper and deeper within the shadows of the tunnel. Her footfalls faded into the darkness within.

The Wudang Elder closed his eyes. The eternal frown plastered over the Immortal Yang's face shrunk by the smallest of degrees. So this is what the old monk meant by believing in this young girl.

He reached up to finger the jade pendant around his neck.

"Have mercy on this one, _Long'Er_."

Then the Wudang Elder turned and walked out of the tunnel, just as he did four hundred years ago, his cane clacking noisily on the cold stone floor.

* * *

><p>The tunnel was starting to slope downwards, the rocks started to get more slippery, and the very air was chilling her breath. Her fears followed her as quickly as the shadows at her feet. She had only been running for a few minutes, when they caught up to her.<p>

What was going to be in this tunnel?

Why has no one ever come back?

Did she really think that she could succeed where so many talented warriors have failed?

What if there were traps?

Poison?

Arrows?

Explosives?

Oh Heaven help her... she was totally unprepared.

Akali kept on running, her breath quickening. With every step, she half-expected an arrow to fly out at her and pierce her neck, or a trapdoor to open underneath her. She started to cry as she ran. What had she gotten into?

She was going to die, all alone, within this deep, dark tunnel.

Akali's run slowed to a jog, and then her jog slowed to a stiff, fearful walk.

What... what was she going to do?

She... she just had to keep on running.

She forced herself to pick up the pace.

For Kona.

She transformed her speedwalk into a jog.

For Shen.

She started to full-on sprint. She wouldn't look ahead any longer. She didn't want to see her death. The sound of her footfalls beat a frantic symphony against the cold stone floor, no longer carved tiles, now just rough hewed natural rock.

For Mother-

And then she slammed face-first into a dead end. She stumbled back, clutching her bleeding nose.

"Guh!"

She fell on her ass.

As soon she did, she felt the ground under her give.

"Eh?" Akali muttered through what felt like the beginnings of a broken nose. She tried to pull herself up, but the ground under her started to give even further. Her entire body seemed to sink by a few inches. Groping carefully with her fingers, she could now feel that she was now sitting directly on top of centuries-old rotted wood.

"Eek." Akali slightly yelped, unbidden, as her entire body sunk a little further. She held her hands out, steadying herself. Her slide downwards seemed to stop. "Heh..."

And then the rotted wood disintegrated under her, Akali gave a short shout, and the young ninja disappeared into the hole in the stone floor.

"Wah~!"

* * *

><p>After what felt like an eternity of falling and sliding, Akali broke through some more rotted wood and then fell into an open space. She turned a few times in the air, before tumbling into a massive two-story statue; she immediately felt the sharp dagger-like pain of several ribs cracking as she bounced off of the statue's raised stone sword.<p>

"Aghk!" She fell off of the granite weapon, before plunging several dozen more feet into a shallow pool, causing a tremendous splash. She could immediately feel more bones snap as she made contact with the stone floor of the pool.

As she lay in the pool, the water seemed to comfort and nuzzle her. The pain of her fractures seemed to dull, and all of her worries seemed to float away. She sank into the pool, the holy water around her enveloping her, her injuries fading away by the Warrior Saint's blessings.

A beautiful angel stepped into view, with skin as pale as snow, and long hair as dark as midnight, holding a silver sword in her hand.

That was all Akali saw before she blacked out.

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes again.<p>

She was lying on a thin cloth mat. Her clothes were soaked.

And... she was in some kind of massive circular cave... maybe. There was light coming from the very top, from an occulus cut into the center of the stone ceiling above. In the center stood a massive, two-story tall statue of a robed man holding an outstretched sword. He had a hood over his head, and his expression was solemn. Dozens of braziers stood interposed around the circular cave... now which Akali thought to be a tomb. Their warm light generously illuminated the tomb, along with the sun-lit occulus above.

A woman's voice was calling to her.

"W... ar... yo... ..."

"Ugh..." Akali waved her hands in front of her face, trying to clear away the fog of her dazed eyes.

"I... s...id... who... ar... yo...?!"

Someone was looking down at her. Akali's ears cleared before her eyes did.

"Who are you! Girl?!" A young woman's voice snapped.

"What..." Akali didn't know whether actual words were coming out of her mouth, or if it was all just in her head.

Akali reached up with her hand, and felt the cool of a razor-sharp edge at her throat. She looked to sight of a hilt of a silver sword at her neck, and her eyes cleared to see a figure. A woman's figure.

It was an angel.

She was clothed in snow-white robes that seemed to sway to and fro, though there was no wind. Her hair fell in waves past her waist, bound together by a simple, elegant jade clip. She looked to be a young woman, maybe in her twenties or so. But something in her... the woman's eyes or the stillness in her limbs maybe, that sang a different tune. A tune of eons and ages that have passed before those eyes.

"Who... who are you?" Akali whispered in reply. She raised her hand, but why? Maybe it was to shield her eyes from the radiance of the woman in front of her.

"Such impertinence. You dare intrude into my lair, and demand of me _my_ name?"

The woman had an... old-fashioned sort of accent. Like she had been dropped into the Ionia of today from several centuries ago. The woman drew her silver sword back so suddenly, Akali thought that her throat had been cut. But when the young ninja reached up to feel the skin of her throat, she found the flesh warm and untouched.

"Very well, little mouse."

The woman lifted her hands to her side, and raised her chin proudly. The light from the occulus in the cavernous ceiling raced up and down the edge of her silver sword and her silky sheets of hair. And be it chance or providence, an old dust rose from the ground, reflecting the light to make it seem as if the maiden was wreathed in gold.

"I am the immortal Dragon Maiden. Gaze upon the acting sect leader of the Ancient Tomb Sect only with a heart of purity, or despair, for I dwell among these ruins, bringing swift death upon those rogues and evildoers who would dare defile the Tomb of the Living Dead."

The Dragon Maiden seemed to sigh slightly. Past her radiance, Akali thought she saw something within the maiden's storied eyes. Something... softer. Maybe it was sadness. "It has been my only purpose for four hundred long years."

But just as quickly as it came, the sadness was gone, only to be replaced with cold fury. The Dragon Maiden advanced upon Akali, waving her sword dangerously from side to side. She undoubtedly was a master. Akali gulped. As strong as Mother, easily. Maybe even stronger.

"Now..." She lifted her sword up to run the back of her pale finger up and down along the length of her silver sword, her cool eyes admiring its edge. There was a fixed, cold scowl plastered over her face. It did nothing to detract from the woman's beauty. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut your head off, foolish girl."

"I... uh... b-because..."

Akali's mind blanked. She scrambled up against her mat, her drenched clothes squelching, but still the Dragon Maiden advanced, her and her silver sword getting closer.

She should have replied with some excuse of how this was all a huge mistake.

She should have made up some story of how she ended up in her lair by total accident and of how she was just scared and lost- some kind of lie, any lie, because Akali was definitely here to steal. Though incredibly, the junior ninja stayed her tongue. It was something in the Dragon Maiden's eyes told her that if anything but bare and naked candidness came tumbling out of Akali's mouth, the master swords-woman would take her head off. The fury in her eyes spoke of swift death at a single wrong word.

"Because... because..." Akali fumbled with her words, and the Dragon Maiden's left eye twitched dangerously. Left speechless, the young ninja said the first, stupidest thing that came to mind:

"Because I'm... cute?"

The Dragon Maiden said nothing at first. Her stare burned like coals and her silence hurt like rain. Then, the exquisite woman flung her head back and gave a tremendous sigh. The sigh of having seen centuries go by, without having to deal with another...

"Idiot." The Dragon Maiden muttered. She rolled her eyes and let her sword arm fall limp. "...So Heaven has seen fit to send to me _another_ _idiot_. "

She tossed her hair lazily over her shoulder, trudging off. The razor-sharp tip of her silver sword clattered lightly against the dark stone below as the Dragon Maiden dragged her weapon behind her. She lazily waved Akali in. "Come inside to my chambers,_ 'Idiot Two'_. I'll make you some tea."

Behind the Dragon Maiden's back, Akali fell to her knees, relieved.

That was a mistake. Another piercing headache hit the inside of her skull like a brick. She leaned forwards, clutching her head.

The darkness... it was getting worse. What once was only a migraine, was now followed by a quiet, insidious voice deep within her. She couldn't understand the words, but she could sense the evil within it.

She blocked it out. She had to.

Akali, still wet, stumbled to her feet and half-walked, half crawled to her feet, following the Dragon Maiden in the tomb's inner chambers.

* * *

><p><strong>OH NO ITS XIAO-LONG-NU<strong>


	10. Love

They were deep within the Temple of the Blood Moon, a red fortress hidden in the cliffs of Ionia. Braziers burned only at every intersection or so, their dim light lighting only rare patches of the dark temple. Wood was scarce in the mountains, so the Blood Moon Temple was kept mostly shrouded in shadow. There was little for members of the Blood Moon Sect to accomplish. The majority of the soldiers occupied themselves in prayer to any one of three Demon Gods that the Blood Moon Sect worshiped.

The God of Death. The God of Lies. And the God of Vengeance.

A Shinigami, a Monstrous Spider, and a Fallen Warrior. These were the three Demon Gods of the Blood Moon Sect. The warriors of the Blood Moon Sect bowed to their evil deity of choice, murmuring dark and forbidden curses onto themselves for greater powers and mightier skills.

Deeper within the Temple of the Blood Moon, was a secret inner chamber, reserved only for the Blood Moon Elder himself. Lying in the center of the dimly lit room was the Writ of Heaven, white as snow, on a low darkwood table. Second, also on the table, on the walls, on every flat surface reachable with a knife, was thousands upon thousands of carved writings, the Demonic cuneiform that the Blood Moon Elder glimpsed so many years ago. Written on those walls was everything he knew of the Vortex of Devouring Shadows.

The third object of interest was chained to a wall. Shuezi, suffering her punishment for failing her master. The Blood Moon Elder paced back and forth, seething.

"I should kill you." The Blood Moon Elder murmured, his red eyes burning with a rage beyond control. "If he weren't already dead, I would kill your brother a thousand times over for failing me. I would peel the skin from his body and boil him alive."

Shuezi sobbed, tears of sorrow mixing with her tears of pain. She stopped crying when the Blood Moon Elder touched Shuezi again, this time on the throat, his dark chi burning away at her lungs, and she silently screamed once more.

He pushed up against Shuezi's throat, her twitching and flailing intensifying, and then released her, letting her hang against her restraints, coughing and sobbing.

"May there be a hell... an unending Tartarus..." The Blood Moon Elder gnashed his teeth. "Set by the Three Dark Gods just for him."

Shuezi murmured quietly under her breath, her eyes blank with the memory of pain. At this the Blood Moon Elder swooped down on the hapless woman.

"What was that, little Tse?" He raised another chi-infused hand. Shuezi shook her head at the sight, her entire body quivering. "I didn't quite catch that."

He gently laid his back of his hand against Shuezi's chin, while she shivered from the touch.

"Care to repeat that?"

Then Blood Moon Elder turned his hand and dug his claw-like fingers into Shuezi's face, dragging nails across her cheek, burning at the bone, and she let loose another silent scream into the night.

* * *

><p>It was morning back when Shuezi had been dragged into the Blood Moon Elder's inner chambers.<p>

It was nightfall now, before the unassuming statue of an unknown god shifted to the side, and Shuezi stumbled out. Hours had passed before Blood Moon Elder was finished with her. Further hours passed before Shuezi dared crawl out of the hidden chamber in the Temple of the Blood Moon. She took only a step, before slouching against the white walls, and hung her head.

She pitched forwards, and vomited clear spit. She coughed and retched, distorting the three long, black scars running along the side of her face. It was the price for her failure.

Panting heavily, Shuezi pulled herself up, wiping her mouth. She looked upwards, her teeth curling into a snarl.

"Brother..." She said in a whisper so soft, so quiet that only Heaven would hear it, "...I... I'll get your revenge... " She slumped upwards against the Temple's high white walls, stumbling, half dragging herself back to her quarters.

Her coffin awaited her.

As did her secret disciple.

* * *

><p>Her inner chambers were the picture of ultimate luxury. Painted tapestries adorned every inch of the high stone walls around them. A massive bed lurked in the corner, its size so massive it could have slept a dozen people within its folds without any of them touching. And in the center of the bedchamber, Dragon Maiden laid back lazily on one of dozens of silken throw pillows, each pillow woven of brilliant colors more vibrant than the next. Directly in front of her stood a table carved of red wood and gilded inscriptions, and a small cast-iron teapot clattered at the center, boiling over red-hot coals.<p>

Akali sat nervously across from the Dragon Maiden, her own teacup left untouched.

"Phew..." The Dragon Maiden exhaled, loosing a short plume of steam from her lips. Her raised her teacup to her mouth once more, sipping at the centuries-aged tea.

"Alright," The Dragon Maiden finally said, after many minutes of quietly drinking her tea. "So what is it that you want, little mouse?"

"Um..." Akali glanced nervously at the fountain of holy water flowing in the Grand Chamber through the door at her back, and then at the Dragon Maiden's silver sword, sitting in its sheath on the table, just within arms reach of the woman. It was only take a second, and the woman could have her head off in the blink of an eye.

"It's fine, little mouse. I've already decided that I won't kill you." The Dragon Maiden picked up her silver sword and placed quietly under the table, her eyes closed. "There. Feel better?"

Akali nodded. The threat of imminent death did put a damper on things.

"I..." Akali proceeded as carefully as she could. She chewed her lip a bit. "I wanted to borrow some of this tomb's healing water."

"The Warrior Saint's holy water?" The Dragon Maiden tilted her head, frowning slightly. "You don't seek weapons? Nor martial scripts?"

"I don't need such things." Akali bowed at her knees, kneeling in respect. Her messed-up ponytail dangled past her head. "Please Aunty, just the water is fine."

"You do not look unhealthy."

"It's not for me. It's for my friend..." Akali bowed again, tapped her forehead against the cold stone floor. A month ago, she would never prostrate like this to anyone. But loss made a decrepit ruin of her pride. "Please, Aunty, I'm begging you. His condition is critical. He could die at anytime."

"...Hmph. So your 'friend' is a man?"

"Um... yes."

"Hmmmph." The Dragon Maiden grumbled, then raised her teacup to her lips again, another frown on her face. "I don't really want to help a man. But I'm a kind-hearted person."

The Dragon Maiden rose, sweeping her robe-clothed arm over the low tea table in between them. When her white robes cleared the view, there left on the red wood was a small crystal bottle. The holy water within the bottle's depths seemed to sparkle with life.

Slowly, carefully, Akali brought the crystal bottle into her grasp, her arms trembling. The bottle felt warm to her touch.

She saved Shen. Hooray.

The junior ninja quickly pocketed the holy water in robes.

"...Thank you for your generosity." Akali fell to her knees, and clasped her hands in front of her. The junior ninja gave a slight smile. But for some reason... Akali felt like it was strained.

Just what was bothering her?

"Hmph. Then we're done here."

The Dragon Maiden waved her hand at Akali, her white robes flapping noisily. She started listing out directions, with a look of extreme boredom on her face.

"There's an upwards exit to the left of the Grand Chamber... um... past the Warrior Saint's statue. Go down straight and take a right at the underground river. If you reach a crevasse, you've gone too far."

The Dragon Maiden laid back, cricking her neck, rolling her long sheets of black hair. But still Akali knelt there, her hands clasped. The junior ninja hung her head, her face shrouded in shadow, her smile vanished. The Dragon Maiden frowned at the sight.

"Well? Get going."

Akali didn't reply.

"Alright-" The Dragon Maiden finally said, sighing. "What is it, little mouse?"

"No."

"What?" The Dragon Maiden tilted her head, her eyes wide with incredulity.

"More." Akali stood, her eyes blazing. She clenched her hands. This was going to be a gamble. "It's not enough just to heal Shen. I want to become stronger. Teach me martial arts."

The Dragon Maiden, despite still lying back, seemed to tower over Akali by the force of her chi. The Maiden's sword had somehow appeared in her hands again. The beautiful woman was clutching the sheathed sword in her hands with a death grip.

"Little brat." The Dragon Maiden spat. "What makes you think you could grasp even one percent of the depths of my mastery? I have better things to do with my time."

Akali glanced from side to side at the empty tomb. The silence of the utterly barren crypt seemed to roar.

"Better things to do like what?" Akali asked. The teenage ninja glanced around at the inner chambers. She picked up a rather horrible ink painting left forgotten on the ground. "...painting?"

Akali would have guessed that the thing splattered on the vellum was something like a five-legged horse, if not for the characters written in equally bad handwriting on the side titling the artwork 'tiger'.

Akali held up the 'tiger', her eyebrows raised.

The Dragon Maiden quickly looked away, leaning forwards and snatching the painting away with her other hand.

"Never mind that."She crumpled up the scrawling, and tossed it lightly into the flames. "Eternal boredom is infinitely preferable to having to deal an idiot like you."

"I won't leave."

"You won't learn a thing."

"Try me."

"I refuse." The Dragon Maiden tossed her sword back under the tea table and laid back on her silk cushions, putting her hands comfortably behind her head. She closed her eyes, as if preparing to nap. "Go find someone else to bug, Idiot Two."

Akali rose, clenching her hands. She felt the power of darkness in her rise once more.

This motion wasn't lost on the Dragon Maiden. The beautiful woman curiously opened a single eye at the junior ninja in front of her. The lady dragon gave a smirk.

"Promise me one thing." Akali said, her eyes downcast.

The Dragon Maiden only tilted her head, her cool eyes watching Akali carefully.

Slowly, Akali withdrew the crystal bottle of holy water from her robes, and placed it on the tea table.

"If you kill me," Akali crouched low, her arms floating upwards into a hand-to hand combat stance. "you'll still give this holy water to Shen."

The Dragon Maiden rose to her feet, her hands floating at her sides. That smirk was full and apparent over her pale face.

Then, the lady dragon leaped, flying past Akali, her robes fluttering like wings. She floated through the air until she landed in the Grand Chamber, the statue of the Warrior Saint at her back. She turned on her heel, widened her stance and raised her hands, imitating the statue's pose, an arrogant smile on her lips.

Then she drew her hands downwards, holding her hands at the small of her back.

"I don't like hedged bets. Since you decided to make this a contest of skill, I'll tell you what." The Dragon Maiden crouched low, her ethereal white robes flowing around readied stance. "Force me to use any of my hands or feet and I'll give you the holy water. Furthermore, I'll take you as my student without regret."

The Dragon Maiden smiled, revealing brilliant white teeth. "When you give up, you get nothing. You'll spend as long as I like here, working as my servant. Boiling tea, cleaning the tomb, whatever I want."

Akali walked out of the inner chambers, her head pounding. She rolled her fingers in anticipation. She didn't stop until she was squarely in front of the Dragon Maiden.

"That even a question?"

To just force this woman to use her hands... She looked really strong. Akali didn't know if it was even possible.

Akali closed her eyes, drawing on that forbidden strength. The dark whispering in her heart grew louder and louder. She felt a little part of herself die as she drew upon the Vortex of Shadow's strength.

But she needed to do this.

Akali opened her eyes, and lunged forwards.

* * *

><p><em>How?<em>

Akali fell back, sweat rolling in waves down her face. The junior ninja panted, taking the chance to put her hands on her knees. She wiped her face, trying to clear the stinging sweat from her eyes.

"Given up yet?" The Dragon Maiden taunted, her hands still folded behind her back, her feet still planted squarely where they were. She hadn't budged an inch from where she stood, and Akali had been flailing at her for what felt like an hour. To top it all off, that annoying smirk was still on her face.  
>"Never!" Akali snarled. The junior ninja rose once more, and charged again.<p>

She yelled, then led with another stiff punch, but the Dragon Maiden simply turned her shoulder, and cradled the blow. Another kick, another vicious elbow, but the master seemed to glide through the junior ninja's blows.

"Y-you!" Akali lashed out, her fingers arched like claws. She clawed at the Dragon Maiden's face, but the woman simply leaned back. "Stop!" Akali grunted, "Moving!"

Shadowy smoke gathered at Akali's right hand once more, and she lunged forwards, a dark, devastating blow gathered in her fist.

The Dragon Maiden showed only a moment of concern.

The lady dragon leaned forwards, and thrust her arm forwards. She threaded her arm through Akali's, and placed her upper arm squarely into Akali's. Akali's punch cut short, but the air flowed with her punch. The Dragon Maiden's hair and robes blew backwards from the force. A flash of anger crossed her face, and then the Dragon Maiden shoulder checked Akali, sending the junior ninja's own force spiraling back into her. The girl was sent flying back.

"Agghk!"

"Good strength." The Dragon Maiden admitted. "So you forced me to use my upper arm." She raised her lithe hands in reply, smiling. "But my hands are still untouched."

"You-!"

Akali, her chest heaving, looked around the ancient tomb. Her eyes gleaned something silver lying forgotten in the inner chambers. The Dragon Maiden's silver sword under the tea table, its shining handle poking out from between the tea table's legs.

Akali marched forwards, as the Dragon Maiden watched Akali curiously. The teenage ninja kicked over the tea table angrily, sending the contents on the table flying.

"You think you can get me to move by destroying all of my stuff?" The Dragon Maiden called, clearly bored with this response. "How childish. I'll just have you repair everything once you're my servant for life."

Akali didn't respond. Instead, she drew the Dragon Maiden's sword out of its sheath in a single motion. The three-foot long saber felt no heavier than a willow wand. But even Akali could tell, inexperienced as she was with swords, that nothing she could do to this sword would damage it. She wasn't as good with swords as Shen was... but she would have to try.

The Dragon Maiden narrowed her eyes at the theft of her weapon.

"Clever girl." She admitted, "But it doesn't matter how many swords you arm yourself with. You can't force me to move."

Akali then turned, sword between her hands, and charged again. The sword seemed to have a life of its own, as Akali waved it in as many loops as she could. Still, the Dragon Maiden twisted, turned, and sometimes gave a still upper arm or an elbow to block the junior ninja's blows. Even armed, nothing was going through.

Akali tried thrusting backwards with the handle, intending to ram the Dragon Maiden with her butt of the sword, but the Dragon Maiden simply gave Akali another hip-check, sending the teenage ninja flying once more. This time, Akali flew further, and hit the rock wall behind her.

"Gaha!"

Akali crumpled to the ground below her. She winced, and clutched at her side. She curled up into a ball, feeling to make sure that none of her ribs were broken. The pain of her body hurt, but there was something that hurt more in her heart.

"Don't worry." The Dragon Maiden checked under her nails for dirt. "I held back. None of your bones broke." She looked up, smiling. "Are you ready to serve your master? I like my tea dark."

Akali started to cry.

"Hey... come on." The Dragon Maiden sighed. She put her hands on her hips. "Don't do that."

"I'm weak." Akali muttered to herself. "Kona... dead, because I wasn't strong enough... Shen, with his heart torn out, because I wasn't smart enough."

Akali gave a tremendous sigh, tilting her tear-stained face upwards. She closed her eyes, staggering to her feet, the silver sword dangling at her side. "I'm so tired..."

The Dragon Maiden said nothing.

Across from her, Akali turned the silver sword upwards in her hands. She stepped forwards, levelling the point if the saber to face the woman in front of her. Akali saw the crazed look in her own eyes, reflected in the Dragon Maiden's gaze. She probably did look insane, Akali laughed to herself.

...Heh. But maybe that's just what she needed.

"What's this?" The Dragon Maiden questioned, frowning. "Some kind of suicide charge?"

"Yeah." Akali said, smiling through the tracks of tears on her face. "That's exactly what it is."

Akali took a single step, and started jogging forwards, looping the silver sword far behind her. The Dragon Maiden crouched lower, ready to dodge the obviously telegraphed attack. Akali advanced, closer and closer.

Then, while Akali was still a good ten feet away from the Dragon Maiden, the junior ninja planted a single foot in front of her, reversing her momentum. The Dragon Maiden raised her arms in confusion, while Akali leaned back, her silver sword still flying.

And then Akali turned, exposing her neck. She swept the silver sword forwards, to the side and then back at her, turning the razor-sharp edge back towards her throat.

She closed her eyes.

"Hey-!" The Dragon Maiden yelled in surprise.

There was a sharp clang, and then soft wobbling sound of metal stopping suddenly.

Akali opened her eyes, and found the Dragon Maiden right in front of her, her face furrowed in concern, the silver sword clutched firmly between the lady dragon's fingers. It only took the martial arts master a single step to clear the full distance between the two and catch her sword.

There was only silence.

Then the Dragon Maiden sighed, exasperated.

"Crazy girl. What was that for?" The lady dragon pulled her silver sword away from Akali, flipping it safely between her hands in a single motion. "You scared me half to death."

Akali swayed for a second. Then she fell backwards, lying on her back, and smiled, laughing a little. Tears came out of her eyes, unbidden, and Akali wiped them, still laughing, her sweat and tears staining a puddle in the rock floor below her.

The Dragon Maiden saw the smile. She glanced back down at the sword in her hand, and gave a small grimace. After staring for a few seconds at the hand that caused her loss, the lady dragon then rolled her eyes and sighed.

The Dragon Maiden floated back to her quarters, her sword cradled in her arms.

"We start training tomorrow, Second Disciple. Welcome to the Ancient Tomb Sect."

* * *

><p>It was nighttime. The moon shone in a single beam from the occulus above, and a single junior ninja slept peacefully below.<p>

The Dragon Maiden was standing at the feet of the colossus of the Warrior Saint, her hands reaching upwards to stroke the feathers of the massive eagle that answered her call.

"Hi, Ao'Niao." The Dragon Maiden smiled as the eagle nuzzled up against her breast. "Did you miss me, Ao'Niao? It's been a long time."

The eagle, more than large enough to seat a grown man on it's back, clicked it's beak happily. That beak large enough to fit a cow's head, and strong enough to crush it in a single bite, nipped gently at the Dragon Maiden's robes. The Dragon Maiden bent down, looping a silk ribbon around the massive eagle's beak. Attached to that silk ribbon was the crystal bottle that Akali had won from her.

"Take this bottle to the Idiot." The Dragon Maiden asked of the massive eagle. "He'll know what to do with it."

The Dragon Maiden turned her head, to glance into her inner chambers. Buried deep within, Akali slumbered, a smile on the ninja's face for the first time in a long, long time. The Xiao'nin slept comfortably on the bed of silk pillows that the girl had made for herself.

The Dragon Maiden sighed. Why were the only disciples she ever managed to get were the troublesome type?

The eagle, sensing its purpose was done, unfolded its wings, its wingspan nearly as wide as the colossus of the Warrior Saint was tall. With it's storm-like wingbeat, the legendary eagle named 'Ao'Niao' took to the skies, ascending into the occulus cut into the Ancient Tomb's ceiling, to return to the mountain night, and to its master waiting in the Wudang Complex far above.

The Dragon Maiden stared off into the small piece of night that the occulus carved into her Tomb's roof. She wondered if the Idiot was staring out at that same sky that she was.

* * *

><p>It was morning. Bright sunlight streamed through the occulus in the tomb's ceiling. The rising sun climbed and climbed until a single ray of light shone on Akali's face.<p>

"Ah!" Akali shouted, sitting up suddenly. "I forgot!"

Her hair a mess and her breath smelling like death, Akali vaulted through thicket of silk pillows scattered amongst the bedchamber to come up behind the Dragon Maiden, who was busy slumbering at the edge of her titanic bed. The Xiao'nin reached up to shake the sleeping woman slightly.

"Master!" Akali called, "Master!"

"Mmmphmhmh..."

Akali started to shake the woman harder.

"I forgot! I need to get the holy water to Shen! Please, master, I- urk!"

The Dragon Maiden lashed out with a single slender hand and found Akali's throat. Pulling down, the woman dragged Akali lower until the Xiao'nin's face was buried in the Dragon Maiden's silken bed, her eyes level with the lady dragon's.

"First of all, wake me like that again, and I will end you."

Akali mumbled something that she hoped sounded like 'yes'.

"Second, I already sent the water off to someone who'll get the bottle to your little lovebird. This Shen kid is with the Wudang, yes?"

Akali nodded, rubbing her face against the Dragon Maiden's bed as she did.

"Well, the Idiot, he'll... he'll get it to them eventually. Now, just let me... sleep more..."

"...How much more?" Akali asked from in between cushions.

"Four..." The Dragon Maiden sighed, smacking her lips. "Four more hours."

The junior ninja blinked. She struggled a little, but couldn't get out. Because the Dragon Maiden still had her hand wrapped around Akali's throat.

* * *

><p>Much later...<p>

"So first," The Dragon Maiden said, marching through the empty mazes of corridors that seemed to stretch forever. She had taken Akali, her throat still red, deeper into the Tomb of the Living Dead's inner chambers, which eventually branched off into endless identical corridors of dark and cold stone. "You must personally go through the initiation ceremony."

"Ah." Akali replied, jogging to keep up.

"Here." The Dragon Maiden suddenly said, and shoved Akali into an unassuming doorway. Akali stumbled through the door, and found herself in a quaint stone room, lit by many small candles. The smell of incense burned in the air. Three ink paintings hung on the sloped wall before them, one of what Akali recognized to be the Warrior Saint, the other one of a beautiful woman with a golden crown on her head and robes a brilliant fiery red, and the last painting of a handsome young man with a massive sword in his hands.

The Dragon Maiden tilted her head up, then bowed to the Warrior Saint.

"You bow to the Warrior Saint."

Akali complied, bowing to Ionia's patron saint.

The Dragon Maiden held out her hand, pointing at the beautiful woman in red. "You bow to our honorable founder."

"Who is that?" Akali asked, fascinated. She approached the massive ink painting, nearly as tall as she was, of the woman in red. The leafed gold of the woman's crown shone brilliantly on the paper of the scroll. Her painted eyes seemed to stare into her soul.

"...That is Lei-Na, founder of the original martial sect that would become our Ancient Tomb Sect today." The Dragon Maiden sighed a little. "And she was the Warrior Saint's lover."

Akali turned, shocked.

"The Warrior-Saint's... lover?!"

"Heh. Surprised? I know you young ones revere the Warrior Saint, but he was a man once, just like all others. Better than most, but a man nonetheless."

"Wait..." Akali turned the name over in her head. "Lei-Na... Lei-Na... You mean... Reina?! Like, from 'The Legend of Reina'?!"

"Perhaps." The Dragon Maiden shrugged. "I do not know these stories." She urged Akali on, patting the back of her head. "Go on, bow."

Still reeling in shock, Akali bowed to the woman behind the legend.

When she rose, Akali sneaked a glance at the portrait of the young man. He was really handsome, with long sheets of dark black hair and sharp dark eyes. But it was the kindness and laughter in the man's look that was really attractive. The portrait had the look that he was just an instant from splitting a smile.

"Master..." Akali asked carefully. "Who is that?"

The Dragon Maiden gave a short glance at the portrait.

"That's your senior disciple, the Idiot." She turned away. "Four hundred years ago, Brother Yang was my first disciple."

"Ah... Do I... bow to him-"

"You spit at him." The Dragon Maiden strode forwards, and spit at the painting.

The Dragon Maiden turned to stare at Akali, gauging her reaction.

"I-...Uh-"

"Spit."

Carefully, Akali raised her hands, and bowed in slight apology to the handsome young man. Then, she leaned back, puffed up her mouth, gathering up as much saliva as she could in her mouth, and spit.

* * *

><p><em>There is one more thing you must do for me,<em> the Dragon Maiden said to Akali in the darkness as they were walking back to the Maiden's quarters.

_Yes?_

_Swear off men._

_Swear off... men...?_

_Swear it. It is the law of our sect._

_But I... Akali shook her head. What was she thinking? _

_To get stronger, master, Akali replied, I'll do anything._

_Good. Then so you vow. Trust your master on this, young one. Men are nothing but pain and suffering for virtuous women like us. And should you learn from me, I shall teach you how to defeat them._

_Yes... master._

Thus began the Xiao'nin's tutelage under the Ancient Tomb Sect.

* * *

><p>四百年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。<p>

Ten years, dead and living dim and draw apart, I don't try to remember, but forgetting is hard.

千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。

Lonely grave a thousand miles off, cold thoughts, where can I talk them out?

纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。

Even if we met, you wouldn't know me, dust on my face, hair like frost.  
>夜来幽梦忽还乡，小轩窗，正梳妆。<p>

In a dream last night suddenly I was home. By the window of the little room, you were combing your hair.

相顾无言，惟有泪千行。

You turned and looked, not speaking, only lines of tears rolling down.

料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。

Year after year will it break my heart? The moonlit grave, the stubby pines.

* * *

><p>He sighed. He was done writing poetry.<p>

It was nighttime already.

His Great Eagle, Ao'Niao, nestled at some bugs in its feathers, busily biting at the roots of his feathers in the outside courtyard.

The Wudang Elder set down his ink brush, gazing out at the moonlit night. On his desk, his completed poem to his long-lost love. The crystal bottle of holy water laid empty at his desk, it's contents long since emptied into the young man's mortal wound. The Temple Doctor assured a quick recovery upon witnessing the power of the holy water of the Warrior Saint.

The Wudang Elder kept the crystal bottle. He insisted on it.

Sighing, the old, storied man gazed out at the night sky, wondering if Long'er was staring out at that same sky that he was.


End file.
